Breath & Energy · “Breath Is the Bridge”
Rhythmic Breathing & Relaxation
To settle the body and nervous system before inner work by deliberately relaxing each part of the body and then breathing slowly and rhythmically, optionally holding a calming image of light or colour, so the mind arrives at meditation already quiet.
Rhythmic Breathing & Relaxation: Sit or lie still. Relax the body part by part until it is loose and heavy. Let the breath slow and even out into a calm, gentle rhythm through the nose — no force. Optionally picture calm light or colour flowing in with each breath and tension flowing out. When body and breath are settled, pass straight into your meditation. Gentle throughout; stop if light-headed.
What it is
Before meditation can do anything, Alder says, the body and breath must be quiet — so The Finding of the Third Eye gives the reader a simple preparation routine: deliberately relax the body part by part, then breathe slowly, evenly and rhythmically until the whole system settles.
She often pairs this with gently picturing calm light or colour flowing with the breath. The purpose is practical and modest: to arrive at the daily quiet period already loosened and calm, rather than dragging a tense body and racing breath into the sitting.
It is the on-ramp to her meditation, not a standalone fireworks practice. It operationalises stillness as the ground of inner work (The Inner Creates the Outer), the steadying power of repeated rhythm (The Inner Creates the Outer), and — in Alder’s own frame — the idea of states as a kind of vibration to be tuned (Life Is a Dream), which we treat here as interpretation rather than fact.
The Method
Faithful paraphrase (short attributed phrases only):
- Settle and be still. Sit or lie comfortably with the spine easy, eyes closed, and become physically still.
- Relax the body in turn. Move attention through the body — feet, legs, torso, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, face — consciously letting go of tension in each part until the whole body is loose and heavy. Alder treats this bodily letting-go as essential groundwork.
- Let the breath slow and even out. Breathe gently through the nose, making the breath slow, smooth and unhurried — no gasping, no force. Let it find a calm, regular rhythm rather than driving it hard.
- Establish a steady rhythm. Allow the in-breath, the slight natural pause, and the out-breath to settle into an even cadence, so the breathing becomes regular and quiet — the rhythm itself doing the calming.
- (Optional) Carry a calm image with the breath. Alder suggests gently picturing pure light or a serene colour flowing in with the breath and tension flowing out — used here simply as a calming focus, not as a claim about coloured energies.
- Pass into the quiet period. Once body and breath are settled, move directly into the daily meditation. Keep the whole preparation gentle and brief. (Sourcing note: paraphrase and short attributed phrases from The Finding of the Third Eye; not a reproduction of the text.)
Source & Lineage
Alder drew on the Theosophical and yoga-derived breathing teaching circulating in early-20th-century esoteric writing (the rhythmic-breathing and pranayama material popularised by writers such as “Yogi Ramacharaka”/William Walker Atkinson), and simplified it into a gentle preparation any lay reader could do safely without a teacher.
The Traditions' versions
The move — relax the body, then breathe slowly and rhythmically to calm the system — is near-universal; Alder’s distinctive note is its modesty and safety, used purely as preparation for meditation rather than as a forceful energy practice: - Ramacharaka’s rhythmic breathing — the explicit “breathe in a measured rhythm” teaching Alder’s routine echoes, but Ramacharaka loads it with prana theory.
- Sadhu’s rhythmic pranayama — measured, counted rhythmic breath as a discipline.
- Iyengar’s savasana / conscious relaxation — the systematic part-by-part bodily relaxation Alder’s first step resembles.
- Swami Rama’s 61-points relaxation — a sweep of attention through the body to release tension before stillness.
- Conway’s preliminary relaxation and concentration — the same relax-then-still preparation, in a Western magical key.
Common refinements
Forcing the breath. Straining, over-deep breathing, or long held retentions can cause light-headedness or anxiety. Keep it gentle and slow — ease, not effort.
- Hyperventilating. Fast or heavy breathing does the opposite of what is wanted; the calming comes from slow and even.
- Skipping the body relaxation. Jumping straight to breath while the body stays tense leaves you only half-settled. Loosen the body first.
- Treating the colour image as literal energy work. Use it as a calming focus; don’t chase visual effects or strain to “see” colour.
- Making it the whole practice. It is the on-ramp to meditation, not the destination — keep it brief, then pass into the quiet period.