"When the breath wanders, the mind is also unsteady..." Hatha Yoga Pradipika
In late 2007 I travelled outside of the United States for the first time. I went to Ghana for three weeks through a service-learning trip with Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work. I was never afraid of heights until on January 1, 2008 I found myself venturing on a 1.7 mile hike at Kakum National Forest which included 7 hanging rope and wood canopies over 100 feet high over the rain forest below.
Fear is driven by the basic biological need for safety, to survive. Ironically, fear often takes our breath away, threatening our life force, and hijacking our mind from the beauty of the present moment. Many strong emotions have the same effect, we breathe differently based on how we are feeling.
The benefits of bringing our attention to our breath are endless really. Perhaps the most powerful, when our attention is on our breathing, our mind is brought to the present moment. We then can feel the powerful life force of the breath throughout our body, confidence skyrockets, the mind is calmed. Fear and sadness dissipate, emotions are controlled.