Students of the Sufi path usually have at least a general ideal that ‘breath’ is a central aspect of spiritual development. We are taught breathing practices as part of our daily routines, and Hazrat Inayat Khan frequently emphasised this subject. Nevertheless, we often overlook the role that breath plays in everything we do.

Breath in this context refers not to the air that flows in and out of our body, although that may be seen as a manifestation of the breath; what is meant, rather, is the current of life, the divine energy, that powers the physical flow of air, and that also directs our movements, thoughts and feelings. A singer works to develop the physical capacity of the breath, learning to master volume and control, but more important is the development of the inner current of the breath, for it is that which gives life and beauty of the song. Breath works on various levels of our being: the physical, the mental and emotional, and the spiritual. When we speak, we use the physical breath to give shape to the words, but if the breath is not reaching the mental sphere, our words will have no meaning. Breath that comes from the depth of the heart will touch the heart of the listener, and if our breath comes from the spiritual realm, then our words will reach the spirit of those who hear us. A merely mechanical greetings will not awaken much in the person we greet, but if we send our spirit with our breath, then the person greeted will consciously or unconsciously receive a blessing even from a simple ‘hello’.

The same applies to our prayers. If our breath stays only in our body, or in our mind, and does not reach further, the prayers will not achieve much, but if we have learned how to direct our breath there are no limits. In the prayer Khatum, for example, we begin by saying, “O Thou…” If our breath stays within us, the words don’t go anywhere; when we send our breath with our words toward the infinite, we may discover that we are standing before the divine presence.

And when we say, “Lord of heaven and of earth,” where does our breath go? If our breath stays in our body, then we may unconsciously stretch ourselves upward and then bow toward the ground. If our breath carries our spirit with the words, then we will rise to heaven with our prayer, and then see the Divine Presence also in the earth on which we stand and also in our body.