By Dennis Lewis
"We all know that breathing is essential to life. But this book helps us to discover its immense importance not only to physical life, but to the very meaning of what we are and what we can become."--Jacob Needleman, author of Why Can’t We Be Good? and The American Soul
Following up on
author Dennis Lewis’ previous books on breathing, this
represents his most straightforward, nurturing approach to the subject. Divided
into brief, accessible chapters, the book features short, simple breathing,
self-sensing, and consciousness practices that can bring readers a profound awareness of
their essential being through the miracle of the breath as it manifests in the
body.
Lewis presents breathing as an ever-present gateway to awakening to the true self. Based on his extensive teachings and workshops as well as his engagement with various traditions including Taoism, Advaita, and the Gurdjieff Work, Breathe into Being will help readers awaken to a larger perspective to receive new, direct impressions of the truth of their lives. Readers will also become conscious of their bodies as a sacred temple, a doorway to the source of all being; release constricting physical and emotional tensions; and enhance breathing itself in new conditions of comfort, openness, and ease of being.
Quest Books, paperback, 115 pages.
ISBN 978-0-8356-0872-5
Order Breathe Into Being today through Amazon.com
"With awakening ... comes a radical new understanding. This is not just the understanding that the immensity of Truth can never be comprehended by the mind; it is also the understanding that beneath the unique colors and fragrances and forms and conditions of our manifestations on this earth, however good or bad we may judge them to be, we are all the same in our deepest nature. Presence is what we are, when we are truly ourselves. The term 'self-realization' comes close to conveying this understanding, though it may be helpful to remind ourselves that it is not a matter of knowing something deeper about ourselves but rather of experiencing the mystery of ourselves as completely unknown--the miracle of awakeness itself." (pp 11-12)
"Dennis Lewis has written a very wise and highly readable book about one of the most fundamental insights of the great spiritual traditions: the breath is a mediator between mind and body, and is a bridge to the transcendent. This is a marvelous guidebook in cultivating awareness and living in the now. All valid spiritual instruction is simple and unadorned -- as simple as breathing, as Lewis makes clear in Breathe Into Being."--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words and The Power Of Premonitions
"Breathe Into Being is a most practical, user-friendly yet profound guide to awakening, with simple exercises that blow away the conditioned mind's veils, allowing one's inner light to shine forth. I highly recommend it."--Leonard Laskow, M.D., author of Healing with Love.
"Breathe Into Being is both a fun and a must read, a fountain of practical wisdom for self-exploration that is delicious on the tongue of the soul while quenching our thirst for the knowledge of enlightenment. It is perhaps the most important self-help book – in the deeper sense of that expression – to come out in the new millennium."--Glenn H. Mullin, author of The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation
"Dennis is a master teacher who stands fast in the profound truth that when we welcome this moment just as it is, life works. How simple. How overlooked. How astonishing and wonderful. The secret he reveals: all that we need do is attend to our body's natural function of breathing in, and breathing out. Nothing more is needed. Listen to Dennis. Breathe. Be still and awaken into living your alive, joyful and harmonious Presence that Dennis so beautifully reveals."--Richard Miller, PhD, author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga (Sounds True), is president of the Center of Timeless Being and co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
"A refreshingly simple, straightforward, and enjoyable exploration of the connections between body, breath, awareness, and presence. This user-friendly guidebook will help you be more embodied and awake."--John Welwood, author of Toward a Psychology of Awakening
"In light of our fast often distressful pace of living, when one can read something that is both interesting and inspiring yet slows us down to breathe easier and effortlessly in the moment, it is a very good thing. Dennis Lewis' latest book Breathe Into Being does just that. Read it and let it breathe you."--Mike White, Director, The Optimal Breathing School and Institute
“I’ve had a long interest in the use of following the breath for developing mindfulness, and Dennis Lewis’ work is one of the clearest and most practical expositions of this powerful tool for awakening.”
“There are no lengthy and learned treatises here, but a rich tapestry of around 70 micro-chapters. … Each chapter contains a specific practice, and there were many unique exercises that I had not seen before which I immediately incorporated into my daily practice. … the main focus of these practices is developing non-attachment, or non-identification, gently disengaging our identity away from the ego or personality, and releasing it into that wider ground of being that we are.”
“Lewis’ practices of simply following the breath are effective tools for generating mindfulness and presence, the space in which we can discover the truth about ourselves and the world. They are wonderful exercises for developing that most valuable of spiritual commodities: attention.”
“Breathe into Being is one of the most sophisticated guides to awakening I have read.”
Tony Cartledge, author of Planetary Types: the Science of Celestial Influence
Order Breathe Into Being Today Through Amazon.com
Visit Dennis' Public Blog on Breath, Awakening, and the Wholeness of Life
Dennis 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.
In the Gurdjieff Work his primary teacher for 15 years was Lord John Pentland, who led the main line of the Work in America for many years. His Taoist and qigong teachers over a ten-year period included Mantak Chia, Dr. Wang Shan Long, and Bruce Frantzis. He also studied for three years with Advaita Vedanta master Jean Klein.
Lewis is co-editor with Jacob Needleman of two books: Sacred Tradition & Present Need and On the Way to Self Knowledge. He is the author of The Tao of Natural Breathing, the three-CD audio program Natural Breathing, and Free Your Breath, Free Your Life. His new book Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are was published by Quest Books in May, 2009.
Lewis teaches regularly at Esalen Institute, The National Qigong Conferences, and The Franciscan Renewal Center, as well as at other venues throughout the United States.
Order Breathe Into Being Today Through Amazon.com
Visit Dennis' Public Blog on Breath, Awakening, and the Wholeness of Life
*An earlier version of the book was sold through the author's websites under the title The Breath of Presence.