Breathing and Moving In Life

To my faithful readership – there has been a reason for a lapse in current posts.  Not for want of interest in the breath, but instead because the breath is taking me to new levels within my own life.

There are two projects that have my attention and that I am breathing into.  One is a book on the breath that I will publish before the end of the year, and the other is a newly launched website with my dear friend and business partner Richard Cawte in the UK.

In reference to the former you shall have notification and a sneak preview within a month or so.  For the website please feel free to go to:  IgniteWealthNow and explore, contribute, and make comments.

One of the pages on the website called Inspire/Connect/Enrich begins with a video that I wish to share here.  When we breathe, see, feel and listen to our lives from deep within our heart and soul something amazing happens.  We live our lives and perceive life itself differently.

When we are in gratitude, in the presence of beauty, moved by a persons words, focused on a project or cause that has great meaning for us, or dwelling in our creative imagination our breath expands. We lengthen up through our spine and the heart has more space to open.

More and more of us are awakening to our purpose here in this lifetime and how we breathe is reflective of this movement from the deepest part of our being.  It is not always easy in our over stimulated lives to capture the essence of what is really important., nor do we always know how to take the next step.

However, the breath is ever moving and always renewing itself.  Take inspiration from the breath and direction from your heart.  All will unfold from there.

Do take some moments to watch this video presentation by Louie Schwartzberg below, and join Do As One on the Fall Equinox, 9/23, by breathing together with others across the globe to usher in the change of seasons.

Do As One Universal Breathing Room

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Natural Wealth Website:  www.IgniteWealthNow.com

Breath and Love

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

One might suspect that breathing and love would be intimately and inescapably connected..  We must “love to breathe” for the alternative is not quite acceptable – not breathing that is!  As a lover who takes our entire attention for long moments at a time – are we that attentive with our breath?

Let’s pretend for a moment that our beloved is named “Breath”.  How would our present relationship with our breathing change?  If Breath became shallow and contracted we might take some moments to notice and then soften shoulders, neck,  facial muscles and belly/pelvis so that Breath could expand, relax and feel our love.

In those moments when Breath leaves us all together for moments at a time, we might decide to invite Breath out for a walk, run, or a dance around the room embracing every inhale and exhale making certain that Breath feels they are the most important part of our life.

When Breath becomes all out of sorts coming and going in short bursts and irregular rhythms, we might offer a gentle touch or massage, or share laughter to soothe the “savage beast” and open Breath back again to the natural innate rhythm that Breath prefers to live within and where your relationship thrives.

It may be sort of a challenge to have Breath as a lover since you cannot see Breath,  nor touch Breath, but as Helen Keller says in the quote above – the most beautiful things must be felt in the heart.

Breath makes love with Heart….and all is well.

Now, take a few more moments to read the answers that some very young children have given when asked the question –  What is Love?  Out of the mouths of babes….

What Is Love? Some Really Smart Kids May Have The Answer

*“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” – Billy, age 4

*“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” – Karl, age 5

*“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” – Chrissy, age 6

*“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” – Terri, age 4

*“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” – Danny, age 7

*“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” – Emily, age 8

*“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” – Bobby, age 7

*“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” – Nikka, age 6

*“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” – Noelle, age 7

*“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” – Tommy, age 6

*“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” – Cindy, age 8

*“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” – Clare, age 6

*“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” – Elaine, age 5

*“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.” – Chris, age 7

*“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” – Mary Ann, age 4

*“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” – Lauren, age 4

*“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” – Rebecca, age 8

*“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” – Karen, age 7

*“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” – Jessica, age 8

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Circle of Breath

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Walking on a country road in Oregon in June is a breath taking experience….well perhaps it is more of a breath giving experience for the lusciousness of nature is stunning!  This day my walk was to disconnect from a computer screen and to extend my entire being into the nature that grounds me and often provides very wise counsel.

Most always I am inspired to write by and within the presence of nature, and this day was no different.  As I walked I happened to glance upwards and there was a rather large bird with wings outspread catching the wind so that almost no effort was asked to simply be a graceful, effortless presence in the air.  As I kept walking I noticed that the bird stayed with me circling over and over….and then when I stopped to have direct contact the bird came directly overhead and did a very tight circle over my head.

Then it came.  The title to this blog post was to be Circle of Breath.  Once I had gotten that and was pleased with myself for picking up the message from above….the bird disappeared – literally.    Well that was clear!

Nature is often like this and holds daily messages and reminders for us if we will only stop our endless, and sometimes frantic, daily business – and just simply breathe.  The breath truly is a bridge that connects and unites our body to our thoughts, and if smooth, natural, and easy, there will be no disconnects.

Circular breathing has been used for many thousands of years as a vehicle to access higher states of consciousness as in meditation, for downloading stress and imbalances, releasing old patterns from the body/mind, and certainly for musicians playing wind instruments (which is a very special technique).

It is also a natural rhythm for our being – inhale connected to exhale with a couple of pauses thrown in for good measure.  We come into this world and the circle begins at our first breath, and it is not broken until our last breath out.

The circle represents all encompassing cosmic unity.  Everywhere you look will be found this symbol from the stars and planets to the shape of our eyes.  In many cultures the circle is a sacred symbol and has many meanings, among them wholeness, unity, inclusion, union and focus.

As our breath circles within our body life is sustained and we come into union with every other life form.  For your breathing pleasure please go to the The Earth Breathing video below (which I have presented in a past post)…..and just be still in nature at least once daily this week to simply be present to what is being revealed, and to breathe with the Earth.

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Essensual Breath

“There are moments of insight when ancient truths do stand out more vividly,  
and one senses anew his relationship to the earth and to all life.  
Such moments are worth waiting for, and when they come  
in some unheralded instant of knowing,  
they are of the purest gold.”

Sigurd Olson

The ocean was never more than 5 blocks away growing up and in my first years was just over a short wall to the beach with

Mission Beach, San Diego, California

waves beckoning to a young child to come and play.  Given this you will understand why today I was so strongly drawn to the ocean that nothing could keep me away.

A 50 minute drive had me in direct proximity with the smell of salt air, the sound of waves rolling, and gulls sounding off in the air.  Even though the sun was hidden there were many children, adults, and dogs celebrating the gifts of being near to the sea (and in it!).

When our senses are evoked by nature, feelings of love, a burst of creativity, tantalizing smells, pleasing sounds, luscious tastes, or the tender touch of a hand – our breath responds.

When I left my home my breath was shallow and constricted.  After arriving at the beach and walking along the shore with lower legs caressed by salt water my breath became full and expanded.

What is it that connects our senses with the breath?  Perhaps it is the “essensual” connection with that which we are created from – our home inside on the deepest cellular level.  When our senses are filled – our breath is full.

Spending countless hours sitting in front of computers/electronics, watching television for some, and hooked into sedentary lifestyles and mind games we have forgotten that we even have a full array of senses that can give us unending pleasure, ignite our life dreams, and connect us to the whole of all that is around and within us.

What would it be like if today you took a “senses break”.  In other words choose one of your senses –   nose/smell; eyes/visual; ears/hearing; skin/touch – kinesthetic; or tongue/taste.  I invite you to take a 15 minute “sense break” and completely focus in with that particular sense.

What is your experience?  Has your breath changed as you allow your one sense to be the connector moment to moment?  Now see if you can focus into the moment with all 5 senses and notice how the breath may change.

All life that came before us depended upon senses to navigate their particular place in the world.  Their survival actually depended upon it.  How might we bring back a deeper connection with our senses…and thus with our breath? As this connection deepens, and in some cases returns, our direct experience of life in the moment expands.

In return, our full embodied breath can also ignite our senses.  Just taking one full breath activates the nasal passages/smell as we bring more air into and out of our body; increases visual depth and acuity as oxygen stimulates our visual receptors; creates a soft sound that tells us “we are alive and breathing”; expands our chest, ribcage, back and belly, massages organs and the lymphatic/circulatory systems, and causes increased sensitivity to touch as the breath moves in and out; and stimulates appetite to “taste” more of life as we increase our aliveness with a full breath.

What is holding you back from using your senses more to feel, hear, taste, touch and see?  Don’t miss huge parts of your life!  As Jon Kabat-Zin, Ph.D says in the video below: “Pay attention in an open-hearted way to the full range of your capacities and resources.”  

Breathe it in!!

Sense Mindfulness with Thich Nhat Hanh (a favorite person and teacher!) – Stop running and pay attention to the now with all of  your senses…..

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Breathing In Solitude

Don’t surrender your loneliness

New Hemispheres Series by Pamela Sukhum

So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.

Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,

My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

by Shams al-Din Hafiz

 

Within solitude is found the deepest expression of our heart and soul….and it is here that we know ourselves as the fabric woven by God.

Being alone seems different from seeking solitude.  The first happens spontaneously most every day of our lives either physically, or in an emotional state of being.

The second occurs when we mindfully seek out a space within and without for reflection and deep inner rest – a refuge if you will within the state of loneliness.  Hafiz speaks of the state of loneliness as a rich source of communion with God/or source,  and asks that we not discard or run away from it, but allow it to ferment.

Breathing within this state of solitude takes on new and expanded dimensions as our focus shifts from external concerns and stimuli to watching the breath take form and shape moment to moment.  We may come face to face with the patterns of breathing that block us from vibrant life, or perhaps we watch as the small shallow breath drops softly down into the belly and brings us back to why we are here – back to our dreams and captive creative longings that can often be just a backdrop in the fabric of our lives.

In this place of solitude place your hands on your belly now and feel the warmth melt the hard protectiveness into a soft receptacle for the breath.  Allow this soft belly breath to remind your ribcage and chest to expand in all directions.   Watch, wait – even for just a moment in the life that stretches out before you – and know that it is now in this place of solitude that gifts are to be found.  Do not struggle.  Open the gate and walk barefoot on the soft path before you.   Be still…..and allow yourself to be breathed.

 

 

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