Here is a quote from one of my favorite books, Breath, Sleep, The Heart and Life by Acharya. It suggests a relationship between our breathing and our mental state. The smooth, cool breathing he alludes to I take to be the diaphragmatic kind and the smile he refers to is not the kind you see on magazine covers or what people put on their face when they have their picture taken. It is called “the inner smile,” an indication that you are peaceful and pleased and you feel it in your body and face.
Two Yardsticks of Breathing
Catch yourself at any given moment and see if your head is hot or not. If it is, smile and drop the load of thoughts and anxiety from your head with a smile.
Yes, just break in a smile until the head has become cool.
While your head is hot, you will notice your breath is interrupted. You will also notice, as you are dropping the load from your head and neck, your breath has become normal again.
These are the two yardsticks which will enable you to bring health and happiness in your life. You will live to be a real person.
We do not care what is your life, what is your faith, that is, what is your occupational consciousness or your attitude toward other fellows and God.
One law you must obey. Flow along with cool breath and you will live. Stumble along with jerky breath and you die.
Smile and you live. Drop the smile and you die.
From: Breath is Life in the book Breath, Sleep, The Heart and Life by Acharya.