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of space to release any tensions and absorb any stagnant energies residing below your navel. As you exhale slowly, use your attention to direct these tensions and energies out with your breath. Then work in the same way with the middle breathing space (from the navel to the diaphragm) and with the upper breathing space (from the diaphragm to the top of the head), sensing the various tissues and organs inside these spaces. When you have worked with all three breathing spaces, stop working intentionally with the feeling of space and simply follow your breathing.

4 Sensing the breath of the spine

Now that you have some direct awareness of the three major breathing spaces, especially in relation to the front of the body, we’re going to work with the inner space of the spine, the very core of our body, which connects the three breathing spaces in the back. In particular, we’re going to sense the craniosacral rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid as it pulses through the central canal of the spine, moving from the brain down to the sacrum. The cerebrospinal fluid—a clear fluid produced from red blood flowing through a rich supply of blood vessels deep within the brain—not only provides nutrients for the brain and spine, but also removes the toxic products of metabolism and functions as a shock absorber. The pressure of this fluid has an influence on nerve flow and affects the ability of the senses and brain to take in new impressions.

Lie down on your back with your legs stretched out and your arms at your side. Sense again the expansion and contraction of your breath as it moves through the three breathing spaces, the three burners. See if you can include your heartbeat in your sensation. After several minutes, put your fingers on your temples above your ears (you can rest your elbows on the ground) and sense the pulse of your heartbeat in your temples. Sense the way your head expands on inhalation and contracts on exhalation. You may also begin to feel the way your whole body takes part in this ongoing rhythm of expansion and contraction.

After two or three minutes working in this way, hold your breath intentionally after inhaling. See if you can sense an inner expansion and contraction radiating from the area of the head and spine. Make sure that you don’t hold your breath for any longer than is comfortable. After taking several more spontaneous breaths, again hold your breath and touch the tip of your tongue to the center of the roof of your mouth. Later in the book we will go into the significance of this in completing the circuit of energy flow called the microcosmic orbit, but for now just see if you can sense the roof of your mouth expanding and contracting in rhythm with your head and spine. If so, what you are sensing is the pulsation of your cerebrospinal fluid. An entire cycle of expansion and contraction can take from five to eight seconds.

5 Sense your spine and breathing spaces at the same time

Now without losing touch with the “breathing” of your spine, include the three breathing spaces in your sensation of yourself. As you sense the pulsation of your spine, also sense the three breathing spaces as they empty and fill. As you exhale, the spaces contract from top to bottom. As you inhale, the spaces expand from bottom to top. Don’t force anything. Just let yourself experience the process of natural breathing—a process in which the various spaces of your body all participate. Feel how with each breath the spaces are becoming “large and roomy.” Let your awareness enter these spaces and enjoy the comfort of this natural process of expansion and contraction. After several minutes, get up and either sit cross-legged or on a chair. Continue to work with spacious breathing for several more minutes, noticing any changes brought about by your new posture.

6 The pause of spaciousness

Now simply follow your breathing. Notice the two pauses in your breathing cycle: one after inhalation and one after exhalation. Pay particular attention to the pause after exhalation. The great mystical traditions have spoken