Written by Gurudev Shri Amritji
Breath as Bridge Between Conscious and Subconscious
Your breath is not merely a physical function. It is the living bridge between your mind, the conscious, thinking self, and your subconscious inner body, which operates automatically beneath your awareness. Your body breathes whether you are awake or asleep, conscious or unconscious. Yet, uniquely, you have the ability to consciously influence your breath at will. This dual nature makes breath the meeting ground where the conscious and subconscious connect.
In I AM Yoga, breath is recognized as the most immediate, intimate expression of life itself, a sacred doorway that opens directly into the Being that sustains you. Every breath happens effortlessly, yet you can consciously direct it. This reveals breath’s unique position between conscious and subconscious domains.
The mind lives in past memories and future projections. The breath anchors you in the timeless Presence of now. The moment you bring your full awareness to the breath, you are no longer lost in the endless stream of thought that hijacks your attention. You are immediately present. Breath does not exist in the past or future; it only exists now. The moment you enter into the breath, you return to Presence.
At times, you may find yourself absorbed in worry about a conversation that upset you earlier. As you notice the tension arising, you turn your attention to the flow of your breath. You feel the cool air entering your nostrils, expanding your chest, and the gentle release on the exhale. With each cycle, your thoughts lose their pull, your nervous system calms, and you experience a quiet spaciousness. In that moment, you have returned home, not by solving the problem, but by entering the Presence behind the problem.
The Breath as Polarity: Voluntary and Involuntary
Right now, take a deep breath. As you inhale, feel how your chest expands naturally. As you exhale, feel the release of tension. In this simple act, you experience polarity: inhalation (expansion) and exhalation (release). You also witness how breath happens on its own, yet you can influence it. This is the direct experience of breath as a bridge between your voluntary control (mind) and your involuntary being (soul).
The Koshas and Breath
In yogic science, your being is composed of several energetic layers, or koshas. Your outer physical body is the Annamaya Kosha, the food body. Within it resides the Pranamaya Kosha, the energy body sustained by breath and life force (prana). Even deeper is the Manomaya Kosha, the mental body, followed by the Vijnanamaya Kosha (intuitive wisdom body) and Anandamaya Kosha (bliss body).
Your breath directly connects these layers. It is grosser than the mind but subtler than the body. When you consciously engage the breath, you begin to influence not just the physical body but also your energy, emotions, thoughts, and deeper levels of consciousness.
Imagine you feel overwhelmed with anxiety. Normally, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. If you now bring conscious attention to your breath, slowing it, lengthening each inhale and exhale, you will notice the mind quiets, emotions settle, and a calm Presence emerges. You have just shifted your state not through thinking, but through breath.
Microcosm and Macrocosm: As Within, So Without
The ancient yogis taught: Pinde so Brahmande — what is in the microcosm is in the macrocosm. Your breath connects your individual body to the cosmic body of creation. As the universal prana moves the planets, stars, and galaxies, so it moves within you as breath. This breath animates your life from your first inhale to your final exhale.
Your individual breath follows the focus of your attention. In unconscious living, your breath follows the ego mind, which operates based on the imprints of the past, your karma, your conditioned patterns. But as you awaken into Presence, you reverse this order. Now your attention begins to follow the energy of Being.
Consider when you are stressed. Your attention locks onto thoughts of worry, and your breath shortens. As you witness this happening, you can deliberately shift attention to the breath itself. As your breath deepens, your thoughts lose their grip. This reversal is the beginning of conscious mastery over your energy.
From Ego to Presence: Your Role in Evolution
As a human being, you have evolved from subconscious instinctive polarity into self-conscious ego mind. You carry both the primitive subconscious instincts and the divine potential of superconscious Being within you. The ego mind was never a punishment. It is the evolutionary step through which you are learning to become a conscious creator.
However, most humans remain trapped in identification with the ego mind, believing, “I am my thoughts, my emotions, my circumstances.” This identification turns your own subconscious energies into stress, anxiety, and suffering. The yogis recognized this dilemma thousands of years ago and discovered that you are not your mind. You are the witnessing Presence behind your thoughts, emotions, and body.
Imagine you are caught in anger toward someone. In the moment, you feel justified, convinced your anger is valid. But if you pause and witness your thoughts instead of reacting, you will see that beneath the anger lies fear, pain, or past wounds. As you witness these reactions without judgment, you return to your true identity as the witnessing Presence.
Returning to the Breath, Returning to the Self
Every conscious breath is a choice. A choice to return to Presence. A choice to live from the Being that you are, beyond fear, beyond reaction, beyond time. This is the true power of the breath: not just to keep you alive, but to awaken you to Life itself.
Join us July 13–18 for the Inner Dimension of Yoga Retreat to explore the power of breath firsthand under the direct guidance of Gurudev Shri Amritji. Just a few spaces remaining!
