Category: Tools For Breath Enhancement

Stomp Your Feet – Clap Your Hands

The human body is an amazing miracle of sacred engineering!  How else could you explain the subtle and intricate network of interconnections that make up this physical body of ours.  There had to be a Master Creator at work on this particular project!  Yet we go around day after day taking our body for granted and not realizing that the feet, or foundation upon which we walk…and our dexterous hands that are literally miraculous in all of the feats (no pun intended) that they have mastered – are gateways to opening and expanding our breath….. our lives.

A friend of mine in Ireland writes that we are Infinite Beings in Finite Bodies…yet it is here in the body – right at our disposal – that we have the ability to open up our breath and the multitude of energy networks that make up this “finite” body of ours.  Sometimes I like to think that our energetic bodies expand out forever connecting with others in unseen – but felt – connection.  Perhaps this is not what we can see with our eyes, but this quantum connection is our relationship to the Divine in all of us.

Having practiced energy work for many years I have always been fascinated with reflex, acupressure, acupuncture, or energy points in the body.  For your pleasure this week I invite you to play with your hands and feet when you take breaks throughout your day…or even better yet, start or end your day with a little massage on the lung and diaphragm points shown on the charts below.  Feel particularly adventuresome?  Then explore other parts as well! You can click on the picture for larger views.

Other Blogs by Gaye:

WildlyFreeWoman

Enhancing Breath With Delight

“If I go for too long without delight, I lose my sense of placement in the world.  I start to believe I am small.” – Christine Kane

So…the experiment.  Today I visited my absolute favorite local nursery, Home Grown Gardens, in Corvallis, Oregon.  My love for “growing things” sends me into realms of delight, so it was here that I experimented with staying aware of the quality of my breath, the thoughts and feelings that passed through, and the sensations in my body –   exploring this world of live, growing, sense stimulating plants, flowers, trees, art pieces, and a few people scattered here and there.

What happens when we are in environments that delight us?  We become more alive and vibrant, our bodies relax, we see more clearly, creativity often opens, the corners of our mouths turn up, and yes – our breath opens and expands.

The hour that I spent at Home Grown Gardens was like a massage of the creative soul.  I delighted in just walking the paths of the gardens, passing from one  mini-environment to another, interacting with the owner Jeff who classifies himself as “just the plant man”, meeting  Carrie – artistic plant/flower nurturer & placement specialist  (and nursing student on break), taking pictures of whatever delighted me, and purchasing a deep reddish/purple pot for a home plant that needed more “room to breath” and a delicious chocolate-mint geranium (YES! it does smell like that).

NOW, make a list of what delights you.  You might be surprised at the things that appear on your list!  Then take one and do it this week.  Breathe with Delight….

Gaye Abbott, Natural Passages Consulting