Tag: breath meditation

Breath As A Tap Root

Imagine if you will a very large dance floor where everyone is moving freely in their own rhythm weaving in and out among other bodies in motion.  Sometimes making contact with others by mutual consent to play with movement, dance, touch, and energy – and at other times silently exploring a unique world of your own.

In the very center of this dance floor is a woman who often breaks out in gales of laughter.  People move in and out of her field sometimes connecting physically and other times merely sending her love, smiles or energy – in other words nourishment.  Every time that this woman laughs it sends reverberations throughout the room and smiles break out everywhere.

She is feeding the dance like a “tap root” from which other “roots” sprout laterally out in all directions.  This tap root forms the center upon which rides the well being and growth of all the other roots.  Without it the vitality of the organism as a whole would not continue and new growth might not be supported.

The breath is like a tap root with the lungs on the inside and the air from without giving and receiving within each inhale and exhale.  Our breath grounds us in the present moment and reminds us that we are here to thrive and passionately and compassionately live our lives to the best of our ability.

We share the nourishment with others in a deeply interconnected dance of life that has been choreographed expressly for us by a central force so strong that often we just begin to imagine and embody the power we are being given.  The tap root continually reminds us that a fully lived life is within a fully embodied creative breath.

If you have never even thought about moving freely from the tap root of your breath…you might give it a try.  A breathing space of ecstatic, free, unrestricted movement from the center of your being!

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

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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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Quiet Time – Living At The Center Of Our Lives

This past week I received my Daily Om which is often just what I need to reflect on for the day.  Living life in these times can be challenging, as it feels we are in the midst of one of the most powerful shifts on all levels that has ever been experienced.  It is an honor to be alive at this time….and it is also a time in which we can be pulled out of our center and off of the path that we have chosen by the daily stimulus that comes at us from every side.

To “be quiet” within ourselves, at least for some moments every day, is a practice which sustains our authentic being and fuels the manifestation of our dreams.  Emptying out by just being and breathing can be the juice that brings us back home to the heart and soul of our being….and melts the self imposed barriers to being present for this life that we have been given.

Gratitude to DailyOm for the reminder below:

May 11, 2011
Hovering around the Sun
Avoiding the Center

Quiet time each day is so important, but many are so out of practice that it’s almost unnerving to be in stillness.

“It’s funny to imagine our lives as something we spend a lot of time avoiding, because it seems like that would be impossible to do. Our lives consist of everything we engage in, from showering to sleeping, but also a lot of busy work that distracts us and keeps us from looking at our lives. Experiencing our life from the inside means taking time each day to simply be alone and quiet in the presence of our soul. Many of us are so out of practice that it’s almost unnerving to have a moment to ourselves. As a result, we may have stopped trying to carve out that time to take a seat at the center of our lives.

One of the reasons it can be uncomfortable to sit with ourselves is because when we do, we tend to open ourselves to an inner voice, which might question the way we’re living or some of the choices we’re making. Sometimes the voice reminds us of our secret, inner yearnings, dreams we thought we had forgotten. When we already feel overwhelmed by our busy schedules, the idea of hearing this voice can be exhausting. However, its reflections are the chords that connect us to our authentic selves, and they are the very things that make our lives worth living. When we continually avoid connecting with our life, we risk losing out on the very purpose of our existence.

To begin the process of being more present and less absent in your life, you might want to set aside just a few minutes each day to simply sit with yourself. This doesn’t mean watching a movie or reading a book, but taking time each day for self-examination to avoid the avoidance, to be with yourself in an open way. After a while, you may start to enjoy this part of the day so much that you make less busy work for yourself, so that you can spend more time at the center of your own life, rather than hovering like a planet around the sun.”

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Breathe Through Your Heart

 

Years of “meditation”, formal and informal, have taught me that fully being present to  life moments is truly the “meditation” that will change not only our individual lives, but all that we touch and beyond.   This practice of awareness  has the potential to open possibilities for free creative expression, connection, and collaboration in all the varied forms that it takes.

As we pay particular attention to the feelings that are informing our hearts, the electromagnetic currents radiate out and energetically connect all over the world. Global shift and transformation come from this – this deep interconnection with all of life.  What we do individually really does matter.

The power that we hold collectively is beyond measure.  It is not only being felt more strongly now, but more of us are coming together to create change in alignment with the health of the planet and well being of all living creatures.   There is no separation.

Praying for the water that has been contaminated by radioactivity, joining 1,000‘s of others meditating for peace and non-violence, breathing together as one on behalf of those that have been affected by disaster…..there is no action that is taken, nor event that transpires, that is not felt by all.

As we breathe fully we are able to inhabit our lives with awareness – to break the structures of our lives that have kept us imprisoned.  As we breathe fully we can feel fully….and no matter what those feelings are, or how difficult they may be,  they are shared by many.  You are not alone…no never alone.

Even physiologically each of us reduce our hearts work when we breathe fully and naturally.   This produces a stronger and more efficient heart that not only works better, but also lasts longer.  It reduces the cardiac rhythm, and at the same time our nervous system is relaxed, helping us to feel better, with more energy and an increase in tranquility….which of course is transmitted to the life around us.

We have a choice.   First open your heart to yourself and in this moment breathe through your heart.   Soften your belly – allow the guarding and protection to melt away.  Just for this moment….and the next….and the next…..and the next.  Breathe through your heart.

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DANCING BREATH RAP – DO IT NOW!

Exhale/Inhale

Here you will find the symbols of Inhale and Exhale.  There is an ancient practice called Qi Gong, or Chi Kung, which relies on the breath as an integral piece of the practice.  Qi Gong is described as: “the philosophy and practice of aligning breath, physical activity and awareness for mental, spiritual and corporeal health, as well as the development of human potential. It includes certain forms of martial arts and the spiritual awakening to one’s true nature.”

Like Dan Brule of BreathMastery (who’s website offers 5 core breath practices) you might see in these symbols the following:

“I see in the symbol for the exhale a bold vertical stroke that reminds me of the spine. It has what appears to be a serpent rising and coiling upward around the spine. (depicting what in Yogic literature is called the “Kundalini Serpent”).  That same vertical stoke appears on the inhale too. But on the inhale, I see a downward diagonal stroke shooting thru what looks like a rounded belly. This reminds me to send the breath deep into the abdomen. Directing the breath energy into the “dan tien” is a basic practice in Chi Kung.”

It is within this movement of inhale and exhale that we live and thrive.  In the rising like a serpent up the spine, and the softening of the rounded belly, we move the life energy/chi that is necessary for our vital health and aliveness.

In our often sedentary lifestyles in the Western culture that natural breath is squelched and contracted into a shallow chest effort that often never, ever gets down to our bellies, let alone front, back and sides.  Stagnation and dis-ease converge on our already stimulus overloaded bodies and we lose our zest for life – or perhaps life itself.

This on the other hand is what we aim for:  “For the most part, when the breathing mechanism is uninhibited, it will reflect and express your moment to moment natural state. A healthy breathing mechanism will automatically adjust itself to your energy. It will respond naturally to chemical or metabolic changes, to the intensity of your emotional experience or physical activity. And, it should respond easily effortlessly to your conscious will.” Dan Brule

Continually seeking practices that enhance the practice of breathing consciously, shake us lose from our inhibited and habitual breath patterns, and that increase life energy there appeared on my Facebook page today a very fun video with Dr. George Love (http://www.freewebs.com/4doorstohealth/) of Baton Roca, Florida.  Dr. Love is an acupuncturist, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and a Master of Blue Dragon Qigong. I don’t think that he will be able to make his living doing rap….but what he does have to offer here is a way to move that chi around and BREATHE!  Have fun!!

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