By Dennis Lewis
Lewis' new book, Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are is now available.
Visit Dennis' Public Blog on Breath, Awakening, and the Wholeness of Life
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The first step in healthy breathing is to become conscious of how we actually
breathe. From the perspective of the world's great spiritual traditions, our
breath not only
brings needed oxygen and other gases to the physical body, but
it can also bring, when we are conscious of it, the finer energies (prana, chi,
and so on) needed to help nourish our higher bodies--the subtle body, causal
body, and so on. Whatever we may believe about our soul and spirit, our breath,
and how we breathe, is intimately connected with all aspects of our being.
In today's noisy, high-stress world, many of us sit, stand, sleep, speak,
act, and move in ways that undermine our breathing and our physical, emotional,
and spiritual health. When we look at ourselves in action, when we actually
sense and observe ourselves honestly for a moment, we see that we carry enormous
amounts of unnecessary tension throughout our bodies. We may sense it in our
hands, face, eyes, jaw, tongue, throat, belly, back, chest, and so on (even
tension in our feet can undermine our breathing). These tensions can and often
do impede the natural, harmonious movement of the diaphragm and its coordination
with the secondary breathing muscles. They also impede the harmonious flow of
the breath of life through our body/mind.
We can do all the breathing exercises in the world, but if we don't begin to see
and free ourselves from the unnecessary tensions that we carry day in and day
out--if we are unable to find a state of dynamic relaxation in the midst of
daily living--these exercises won't do much good. In fact, without such
relaxation and without real self-knowledge and self-awareness, breathing
exercises can often
exacerbate the tensions already present and create dangerous biochemical and
physiological imbalances in our body/mind.
In beginning to study these unnecessary tensions in ourselves, which are
generated in large part by our mostly unconscious attitudes toward ourselves and
others, one of the most useful situations with which to begin is when we find
ourselves in a hurry, which, for many of us, is almost all the time. Next time
you catch yourself rushing through your life on the way some place other than
where you are right now (and this can be a mental or emotional "rushing" as well
as a physical one), sense your entire body and pay particular attention to your
breathing. What does your breath feel like? Does it feel open and spacious? Most
likely it feels small and cramped. Ask yourself if this is really how you want
to live your life, always tensing toward something to be done or enjoyed (or
something you believe will be better) in the future. Yes, the future is
important and we all have plenty to do on its behalf, but what's the point of
all this "doing" if we don't actually feel and appreciate the pure miracle of
our aliveness, our being, right here and now? What's the point of all of this
activity if we are not open enough to receive and appreciate the life force
flowing through us and others and the rich scale of impressions and perceptions
that come with it?
It is only through a constant deep-felt appreciation of the value and miracle of
being itself that our lives will take on real meaning, that our relationships
with others will become imbued with intelligence and compassion, and that we
will find effective solutions to the ever-growing problems we face. If we are
constantly filled with unnecessary tension based on judgments about the past and
expectations about the future, our breath will remain cramped and disharmonious,
we will never discover what it means to be truly human, and our lives on this
planet will only get worse no matter what brilliant strategies we devise or how
much force and aggression we use to put them into action.
To see and release the unnecessary tensions that fill our lives, and to allow
the breath of life to manifest fully through us and others, begins with sensing
and observing ourselves at this very moment, paying special attention to the
tensions that propel us through time, as well as the inner attitudes that fuel
them. It begins with being present to "what is," without any self-deception.
This is the beginning of real transformation, both for ourselves personally and
for the world. And it all begins with awareness of the breath.
One of the safest and most powerful breathing practices or exercises you can undertake is to consciously follow your breathing in the many changing circumstances of your life. As you inhale, simply be aware that you are inhaling. As you exhale, simply be aware that you are exhaling. Try this exercise for 10 minutes or so at a time at least three times a day. It will help free you from your automatic thoughts and emotional reactions and thus enable you to live with more receptivity and clarity in the present moment. You may find this exercise especially useful at moments when you are anxious or angry. With roots in Buddhism and the other great spiritual traditions, this is a wonderful practice for both beginners and advanced practitioners.
This page is Copyright © 2008-09 by Dennis Lewis.
Visit Dennis' Public Blog on Breath, Awakening, and the Wholeness of Life
About Dennis LewisDennis Lewis, a longtime student of the Gurdjieff Work, Advaita, and Taoism,
teaches the transformative power of presence through natural breathing, qigong,
meditation, and self-inquiry. Lewis is the author of the
The Tao of
Natural Breathing, the three-CD audio
program
Natural Breathing, and
Free Your Breath,
Free Your Life. He is co-editor with Jacob Needleman of two books: Sacred
Tradition & Present Need and On the Way to Self Knowledge.
Lewis' new
book, Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are,
published in May, 2009, by Quest Books is now available.
For more articles and other information about breathing for health and self-transformation, as well as some safe, powerful breathing exercises, please visit Authentic Breathing Resources.
