Tag: awaken breath

Everything You Need to Know About Life Is In One Breath

“Everything you need to know about life is in one breath.”

–Dewitt Jones, Photojournalist

 

 

 

 

 

 

After listening to the recent interview with Dewitt done by Sheila Finkelstein of Picture to Ponder I was brought back again to what an important tool and a metaphor for life the breath is.   You fill yourself up and then the biological imperative is that you must give it back out.  We, at times, attempt to hold our breaths thinking that it will make us “safe”and nothing bad will happen. Amelia Earhart said “Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?”

 
That is what holding our breath is about. You can’t not breathe – but you can, if you choose to do so, contract away from your own life experience and the calling and relationships that may be asking you out to play, create, and experience life fully, by shallow breathing or holding the breath.

 

You have to breathe!  Taking in a full breath fills you, gives energy, stimulates natural biological processes, and expands your potential for excitement about life and the contribution that you naturally have to bring.

 

Your contribution is then present in the exhale.   A giving out of the fullness that you have just taken in from a place of enough – to sustain, support, and create new life. For within the exhale a space is created to bring in more.

 

There is always enough, and for most living things this process is on automatic.  It is something that we can trust and relax into, especially during particularly difficult or stressful times.  Can we use the breath as a tool for recognizing the wealth and potential that is our life now?

 

Soft belly, relaxed shoulders, face and mind at peace – take time NOW to enter a Breathing Space of fullness.

 

Take that full breath and move, breathe and listen to Words From The Hopi Elders:

( from the album Songs of the Earth – Majbritte Ulrikkeholm & Søren Frieboe)  The music video was filmed by Majbritte Ulrikkeholm & Søren Frieboe .  Listen to the album on www.majbritteulrikkeholm.dk)

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Breathing Peace

The Symptoms of Inner Peace

*A tendency to think and act deliberately, rather than from fears based on past experiences.
*An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
*A loss of interest in judging others.
*A loss of interest in judging self.
*A loss of interest in conflict.
*A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
*A loss of ability to worry.
*Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
*Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
*Frequent attacks of smiling through the heart.
*Increasing susceptibility to kindness offered, and the uncontrollable urge to reciprocate.
*An increasing tendency to allow things to unfold, rather than resisting and manipulating.
Thank you to the author: Saskia Davis at www.symptomsofinnerpeace.net

Also Thank you to: www.onesanctuary.com for inspiration and finding this quote in the first place!

As we come into the holidays we may contemplate how to enjoy them fully without stress or undue expectations placed on ourselves and others.  It is well known that bringing peace to our planet is one of the most important elements in the realignment with vital health and well being that is being called for now in our times.  Yet, it is not political peace that I am speaking of here, for that is an outcome of another kind of peace.  It is the peace within us that when actualized, or at least practiced to the best of our abilities, contributes to the overall peace among nations, countries, communities and individuals.  It is this self-Peace, if you will, that everything else unfolds from.  Breathing peace may include some of the “symptoms” above…and will most definitely release one from the need to make the holidays, or our lives in general, “perfect”, and instead create unforgettable moments that will nurture, inspire,  and sustain collaborative relationships and evolutionary creativity. 

Breathing peace may include creating a “sanctuary” for ones self in the midst of many tasks and seemingly endless obligations.  This sanctuary can be in nature, on the back of a bicycle, feet enclosed in a good pair of walking shoes, a quiet space dedicated to contemplation/reflection within ones own home, in a bathtub filled with aromatic steam arising from a body covered with warm and comforting water, a bowl of homemade soup, a cup of hot chocolate, spiced apple cider or tea, a bookstore or library with comfy chairs to read from, a midnight walk in a star studded sky, a full inhale connected to a full and released exhale for several minutes, or any number of “sanctuaries” that bring peace and balance to the moment.

Here is an additional reference from Gay and Katie Hendricks who created a short online course on the PeaceBreath. Based on 1,000’s of years of instruction on the importance of the simple breath, their intention is to offer this reminder as a tool for conscious change and interconnection on the planet -starting from inside of you.  From the Aramaic translation of Jesus of Nazareth from the Beatitudes these words beckon us to remember: “Blessed are those who find peace through simple breathing, for they shall discover heaven within.”

http://www.consciousone.com/breathing_peace/

The course itself:
http://www.consciousone.com/breathing_peace/course/intro.html

What creates a  sanctuary of peace for you?  Please share it with us!

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Energy Medicine

“Energy runs in established patterns or habits.  Left to their own devices in the modern world, your energy systems must rely on patterns out of resonance with the environment.  If you are to thrive, you must participate in the evolution of your body’s energy patterns.”

– Donna Eden, Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body’s Energies for Optimal Health, Joy, and Vitality.

Our bodies are continually trying to adapt to an environment that they did not choose.  In fact our bodies still have energy software to live in the wilds, yet our daily modern life is anything but that for most of us.  We are blasted daily by electromagnetic radiation, artificial chemicals in our food, and high concentrations of pollutants in our air and water systems.  This means that our immune systems are continually on alert  – or emergency response  – which drains our energy and depletes our vital life force.  In addition, the constant stress of modern life activates the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system which puts everything in overdrive and depletion.

This constant activation has costs to it.  There is a chronic request for more and more energy for the immune and fight-or-flight response which then undermines overall health, vitality and a feeling of well being.  The normal pattern of healthy and balanced energy systems become chaotic and reversed.  We feel drained, our breathing is shallow, and we are open to mental and physical illness and disease taking over.

It is time for harmonizing with the forces of nature and a return to practices that are natural, friendly, and familiar to body, mind and soul.  As we evolve by returning to balance within the natural energy systems of our own bodies, we communicate that to everyone  and everything we touch. 

The deep interconnection between matter, spirit, and subtle energy informs not only our health and well being, but that of the planet we inhabit.  These subtle energy systems operate outside of the mind and are perhaps THE mastermind, if you will, behind the evolving universe.  Everything is energy!

For a 5-minute daily practice that will keep your energy systems healthy and flowing (and your breathing alive and full) I invite you to explore these practices taught by Donna Eden.  For more information on her and her husband, David Feinstein, Ph.D. please go to:

http://www.innersource.net

The Daily Energy Routine with Donna Eden

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Struggle No More

For many, many years now Thich Nhat Hanh as been a guide for me…suggesting a path back to the deepest parts of myself that know no struggle, and are free to co-create a life of joy and alignment with thriving.  I am still practicing this gentle form of mindful awareness.  This week I bring to you a beautiful song by Phap Niem and Gary Remal on Thich Nhat Hanh’s – The End of Suffering.

Bring yourself into a quiet and comfortable space as you listen to the song and observe the stream before you…. a breathing space that brought these words to the surface for me:

 

 

Observe the water flowing around the barriers that may attempt to obstruct its path…freedom of movement, of life, of breath…suffering no more…letting go of all but the moment of the next inhale…the next exhale…be present to the opening of breath and creative force that brings life to everything around you and within you….breathe love…breathe compassion…breathe joy…breathe release from any struggle that comes into your mind…let go…

 

 

Next post look for a breathing meditation and movements, also by Thich Nhat Hanh.  His compassionate and loving Presence has moved millions.  He is You….

 

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:  www.WidlyFreeWoman.com

The Sacred Geometry of Life

P.C. Turczyn - Malestrom

All around and within us lies the beauty and sacred patterns of life.  As visionary artist Pamela Turczyn states in her artist statement “Ancient teachings and quantum theory teach us that the universe is comprised of vibrations consisting of light, sound and information. I believe that everything carries a unique identifying vibration, somewhat like a genetic code. “

The strands of our DNA, the cornea of our eye, snow flakes, pine cones, flower petals, diamond crystals, the branching of trees, water crystals, a nautilus shell, the star we spin around, the galaxy we spiral within, the air we breathe, and all life forms as we know them emerge out of timeless geometric codes or geometrical archetypes.
Spending an entire afternoon exploring sacred geometry I was lead in what seemed like spirals of understanding as I delved deeper into the patterns of life.  It makes sense that even our breath is moving in patterns that support sacred design and breathing space to thrive in.  If this is so, then I wonder if we place ourselves in architecture built upon the patterns of sacred geometry; immerse ourselves in visionary art; create gardens that reflect back to us the fabric of our being; and seek out practices that open and align us with our deepest knowing and understanding of these geometric archetypes  – that the mystery of life will reveal more to us, and we will come to a greater understanding and functioning of the fullness and resonance of who we are.

Chalice Well Gardens, Glastonbury

As Bruce Rawles (www.geometrycode.com) states, “It is this principle of oneness underlying all geometry that permeates the architecture of all form in its myriad diversity. This principle of interconnectedness, inseparability and union provides us with a continuous reminder of our relationship to the whole, a blueprint for the mind to the sacred foundation of all things created.”
There are many sites dedicated to Sacred Geometry – some of which will give you theory and mathematics, and others that will take you into the heart of creation.  I invite you to take a peak at Charles Gilchrist in the video and P.C. Turczyn at the blog link below.  Here are two amazing artists that are reminding us of the interconnectedness of life by “using sacred geometry as expressed in nature, light, color, rhythm, sound, and intention.”


Sacred Geometry: The Golden Mean with Charles Gilchrist

Lillian Sizemore, mosaic artist, educator and independent scholar, has written a comprehensive article for her blog/newsletter about the work and unique studio practices of Pamela C. Turczyn. Follow this link for the article on her blog and then visit Pamela’s website from there: http://sfmosaic.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/pcturcyzn/

Other Blogs by Gaye:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Life Flower