BRIGHT DAWN INSTITUTE

Lay Program

Develop a personal ritual at the start and end

of each tele-conference call.

During Opening Bell: Take one long breath

(i.e. one inhale and
exhale)

During Closing Bell: Do Gassho, with head

bowed
 DHARMA BREATHING

There are many ways to use breathing as a valuable tool. As a

rule, take deep, slow breaths. It is said that a wise person
breathes from the soles of his feet. Breathe so your stomach
rises and falls, not your shoulders. This kind of diaphragmatic or
belly breathing is the way of breathing that infants naturally do.
When not lying down, have the good posture of a straight spine
and don’t be slouched over.

I. Breath means life, to be alive. What a gift! Please let us not

squander or waste
this wonderful opportunity of being alive.

II. Breathing is automatic; no thought or special effort needed.

Nature takes care
of respiration. Yet, you can vary how you breathe; slow-fast;
shallow-deep; or
even hold your breath (for a while). This voluntary-
involuntary aspect is an
example of self-power practice with other-power attitude.

III. Empowering Breath/Breathing

Two ways you can work with your breath:
mindful repetition and creative variation

A. Mindful Repetition
Repetition is important. This is why each session starts by taking
a breath while following the sound of the opening bell. This
opening breath can also be called a cleansing or emptying breath
because you empty or clear out distracting thoughts and get
ready for the session with a calm, open mind. If you repeatedly
open the weekly sessions focused on the significance of your
breath, at the end of the two-year program you can use your
breath in many other situations. Thus, mindful breathing can
become a powerful life tool.
Mindful breathing has both psychological and biological effects.
Repetitive breathing, with centered awareness of being fully in
the present moment, pairs your breath with a mental state that is
calm, peaceful, open, non-judgmental, and harmonious with your
surroundings. Every mental state corresponds to neurological
stimulation of synaptic pathways in the brain. The more
frequently a pathway or loop is stimulated, the stronger and
faster it becomes. One’s breath is empowering because it elicits
a neural pathway corresponding to a desired mental state. Thus,
repetitive mindful breathing can help restore balance in how we
function by countering the common stressful lifestyle of being
overly competitive, impatient, defensive, and chronically
complaining and blaming.

What I call Dharma Breathing is simply using one’s breath as a

reminder of the Dharma teachings. The Dharma, of course, gives
us a wider perspective freeing us from the self-centered
narrowness our dualistic way of functioning often traps us in.
Using one’s breath is effective because it is always at hand,
available at all times and quickly accessible. What a shame if we
waste such a powerful practice by not fully appreciating and
consciously focusing on the significance of a simple opening
breath at each of our weekly sessions.

B. Creative Variations and Applications

1. Combining breathing with hand and arm movements

As is known from activities like yoga, aikido, tai chi, Qi Gong,
dance and other body-oriented systems, physical movement
influences mental states and brain chemistry. A beginning
suggestion is to influence your mental state by coordinating your
breath with slow, smooth hand and arm movements. For
example, a recommended method to be done during each Sunday
session opening bell is: with palm(s) up at waist level, bend arm
at elbow upwards while inhaling. Then turn palm over and lower
arm(s) while exhaling. An additional option to add after the
arm(s) is lowered to waist level, is to move the arm(s) outward
horizontally, while finishing the long exhale. This horizontal
movement can be accompanied by the thought of “letting go,”
“leaving behind,” or “keep going.” Such a thought can be
effective simply to make a refreshing gap or pause from one
moment or task to the next, or as a therapeutic release of
attachment to a negative emotional state in order to move
forward in one’s life.

2. Insomnia? Count your Dharma breaths. Take eight breaths

(for the Eight-fold Path), then six (Six Paramitas), five (Five
Precepts), four (Four Noble Truths(, three (Three Treasures), and
end with one breath (Oneness). Remember, take long, slow
breaths with the stomach expanding out on the inhale and
deflating in on the exhale.

3. Being calm is not only a virtue in itself, but maximizes your

ability to respond appropriately in any given situation because of
the reduction of potentially interfering emotional states such as
anxiety, fear, boredom, stress, excitement, etc. Therefore,
cultivate a habit of taking a mindful breath during a wide variety
of everyday activities, combining the breath with any relevant
words. For example, saying “calm” on the inhale and extending
the last “m” sound while exhaling. Saying any word or phrase on
the inhale and extending the last sound on the exhale is a
technique that can be done with any word or teaching you want
to focus on; e.g., gratitude, harmony, or some personal
capping/code phrase. When done before eating, you eat with
more awareness and better digestion. When done while driving,
you reduce irritation with traffic conditions and rude drivers,
making for a safer and more pleasant journey. When done at
times of low self esteem or existential despair, you can access the
liberating center within yourself that is grounded in the Dharma.
As your spirituality continues to mature, so does wisdom and
compassion.

4. You are encouraged to “Keep Going;” that is, refine, adapt

variations on any technique or come up with new methods of
breathing with greater awareness. Some people have explored
techniques like alternate nostril breathing, inhaling in ways to fill
more completely the lower, middle and upper parts of the lungs,
and exhaling so slowly that a candle flame in front of the nostrils
does not even flicker.

5. Cultivate a “Grounding Breath”

As mentioned earlier, when you take a breath during the opening
bell to each weekly session, you are grounding yourself in the
present, to better receive the session. This kind of Grounding
Breath can also function in another valuable way. Whenever you
want to ground yourself by recognizing the value of what you
experienced during all the weekly sessions, simply take a
Grounding Breath! When you need or want to be reminded of
your Dharma experiences in our Lay Program, taking one
Grounding Breath can re-focus or re-affirm your spiritual journey,
into that present moment. This grounding is not a re-focusing on
particular details but on the reality of what you have received and
its karmic influence in your life. This kind of Grounding Breath
can come to represent, symbolize, or affirm your journey within
the Lay Program. Through repeated Grounding Breaths, the
affirmation can become so complete that to the question, “What
did you learn in the two-year Lay Program?” you can reply, “I
learned how to take a breath.” Or better yet, silently take a deep,
slow breath.