Do you know that most people are breathing barely enough to be alive? Most people breathe in a shallow manner, just bringing the breath barely into the chest. We have been conditioned to hold in our stomachs, and to wear tight clothing, inhibiting our ability to breathe fully. Have you watched a new baby breathing? The baby's belly rises with the inhales and falls gently with the exhales. It's kind of like watching the ocean waves rising and falling in a natural rhythm. There is no pause between the inhales pp. exhales. This is our natural breathing rhythm.
Many of us have shut down our breathing, and no longer breathe in this natural rhythm due to stressors, repressed emotions, fears, anxiety, etc that we have experienced throughout our lifetimes. Think of what happens when you get equal in traffic, for instance. Chances are you are holding your breath.
Our culture has taught us to repress many of our emotions and feelings. If someone is crying, what do we do? We try to get them to stop, where, if we simply allowed them this space to feel, they would move through the feelings, or 'storm', clearing them from their emotional and physical bodies. It's like the ocean that has and clears to peaceful sea storms. Unfortunately, when we repress feelings, they are held in the body's memory and we begin to breathe in a more shallow way to hold the in feelings.
Additionally, we carry a lot of stress in our bodies. If we are breathing fully, we cannot hold stress in the body. Yet, most of us carry stressors around for many years! For instance, let's say you have an argument with a loved one or a boss or friend. Your stress level goes way up, and, ideally, it would be best to find a way to relax and bring it back down as soon as possible. Instead, you carry it with you.You think about it later in the day and your stress level rises again. You may think about it the next day and the same thing happens, or months later. Sometimes years later, you are still carrying that residual tension around with you. And, chances are, you are not breathing as fully because of it This is where we get into trouble for carrying this around with us leads to dis-ease stress. Most diseases are related to stress in one form or another. I have heard that cancer cannot live in cells that are oxygenated and there are studies that show that heart patients have not had reoccurence of their problems once they learned to breathe fully.
It's also fascinating how when we learn to breathe fully, not only do we learn ways to relax and relieve stress, we begin to live more fully. It is as if we get back in touch with what is in our hearts, our True Selves, and, often, we also reconnect with our source, in whatever form and we each view that way. In working with hundreds of people over the years, teaching them how to repattern their breathing, I have witnessed many many people finding a place of inner serenity of peace. Oftentimes, they were embraced by the consciousness of pure love.
So, I ask you, in this moment, to take a breath in and out. Does your breathing feel restricted? Ideally, a full breath fills your belly like it is filling a balloon, then rises up through your chest and then releases freely. It may be likened to the ocean waves, where the wave rises in the belly, flows into the shore (the chest) and then flows back out, as the exhales. And, then again in flows, with no pause between the inhales and exhales, in a perfect circle of breathing, flowing in and out freely.
It may be helpful to imagine you are filling a jug with your breath. You fill all the way to the bottom when inhaling, the bottom being the top of your pubic bone and then filling the jug with the air all the way to the top, which you may imagine as the throat area or even to the top of your head.
I invite you in this moment, to practice breathing fully and freely.
Exercises:
1 Lie down and place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest. Breathe in your normal fashion. Which hand rises as you inhales? Since many people are shallow some breathing only into the chest. You may find that the hand on the chest raises up with the inhales. Bringing the practice inhales deep into your belly and fill your belly with the air, like you are filling a balloon. You may want to place a small pillow on your abdomen to see if it is rising as you inhales. (One woman I worked with would have her small dog lie on her belly to watch to see if it she was raising him up and down as the breath moved into her belly:) This type of breathing may take practice and, at first may seem like a lot of work. Yet, in the end, you will be happy you learned to breathe deeply. Getting the breath into your belly is the first step.
2 Once you are able to breathe deeply into your belly, as in step 1. above, next you want to practice bringing the breath into your belly, as above, and then continues to bring it from there up through your chest and heart, and then release it. Breathe in, pull up and release. Do not force the exhales, let it fall like a sigh. Then breathe in again, with no pause between the exhales and inhales and breathe again deeply into your belly. Practice for 5 minutes to start.
3 Begin to notice throughout the day whether you are breathing or not. You may find various times you are holding your breath or not fully breathing. Remind yourself from time to time to take a deep breath! The more fully you breathe, the more fully alive you will be.
When you begin breathing more fully, at first, you may experience different sensations in your body which may not be used to getting as much oxygen. You may tingling feeling in your hands, or face, or feet, or other places. You may feel uncomfortable feelings in various parts of your body at first. You may feel feelings! Just feel what you feel and keep breathing through it! Know it is safe to breathe! The breath carries what gives you life.
Breathe Fully and Live Fully!
Many blessings and remember to Breathe Peace in each moment, Donna, m.ed., "The Inspirer" http://www.BreathePeace.com
Copyright 2009 Donna Packard. All rights reserved. Please feel free to pass this along lesson, or reprint it, and prompt / encourages others to be a part of the Breathe Peace movement. Just be sure to include my name as the author and the website contact information as listed above.
I invite you in this moment to Breathe Peace, Donna l. Packard, m.ed., "The Inspirer"
http://www.BreathePeace.com
E-mail: info@breathepeace.com
Relax, reconnect, move into a consciousness of love. Learn to Breathe Peace.http://www.breathepeace.com for free mini-lesson series, information, resources,
and more!
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