Tag: breathing with nature

Obstacles to Simply Breathing

Just fresh out of my favorite Sunday morning yoga class the peace, stillness and resonance of life energy are still palpable.  During this last month it has been my “job” to release as much of the contraction and holding as possible that has built up over the last 4 years while employed in a job that was not in alignment with my heart and soul.

It continues to amaze me how much tension and holding that is perpetually present in our bodies.   These are patterns built up over time.  So….do you have an elephant sitting on your chest?  Or perhaps a boa constrictor wrapping itself around your belly?  No probably not, but then it may feel like that when actually putting attention on the quality of your breath, the tension in your body, or whether you are even breathing at all!

What are the barriers or obstacles to a full natural breath?  This post would be much too lengthy if all were listed and discussed, so let’s just get down to the core of things.  There is an all too pervasive implant within us that wasn’t there when we first entered into the air breathing world.

That belief system is “I am essentially flawed”.  From that place comes a leaving behind of the awareness and practice of our wholeness, and at the same time a journey of struggle towards striving to be “perfect”. In yoga this is called dukha which means misery, unhappiness, and pain.

“Ring the bells, it still can ring.  Forget your perfect offering.  There is a crack in everything.  That is how the light gets in.”  -Leonard Cohen

As we travel further away from our essential heart based nature and senses we enter the world of dukha.  From this place comes a holding in areas of our physical body all fueled by fear and the false belief that we are not good enough exactly the way we are.

The Hindu religion has an elephant headed God called Ganesha who represents the remover of obstacles. What I learned recently is that Ganesha always has one of his tusks slightly broken off.

When in Bali, Indonesia several years ago I bought an amazing carving of Ganesha and when I received him via shipping from Bali I noticed that he had a tusk broken.  At the time I thought it was mishandling in the packing and shipping process….and now 5 years later I realize that this is the representation of the perfect imperfection that we all are and a reminder to look beyond form.

“Acceptance of the somewhat funny looking elephant-headed man as the divine force stills the rational mind and its doubts, forcing one to look beyond outer appearances. Thus Ganesha creates the faith to remove all obstacles, forcing one to look beyond form, removing doubts and pointing out the spiritual side of everything.”

Coming full circle this post is now an invitation to come back to the senses and out of the mind.  To move towards flourishing and away from the pain of dukha.  Our planet is going through a tremendous shift right now and the quality of feeling “at home” inside of ourselves is essential to let go of the holding onto of old deeply engrained patterns that keep us – and everyone else – stuck. Humanity yields to the wisdom of nature, the heart, and the senses – and the breath deepens.

I will end with an observation from my brother who called me today.  He was incredulous that he was the only one riding the waves out in the ocean on a summer weekend in San Diego.  He just couldn’t understand how people there seemed to have forgotten the simple pleasure of getting in the ocean and being with the powerful, wonderfully wild and fluid water – letting go into the sensuality of simply being.

Simply being removes the obstacles to simply breathing.  Enhance your breath.  Enhance your life.  Simply be.

 

 

….and LOVE RAGES ON

 

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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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The Most Important Breathing Space Of All

On this day, in celebration of the role of motherhood bestowed upon many of us, I took a walk out into nature.  Reflecting on the richness of having given birth to 3 unique and amazing sons and having been given birth to by my own mother into this lifetime,  I walked softly down the country road listening to, feeling into,  and seeing the natural order of things all around me with immense appreciation and gratitude.

The sound of wind,  vast clouds with spaces of blue sky and sun peaking through, rivers flowing strongly from the abundance of rain, Spring flowers doting the grasslands, trees magnificent in their leafing out, bird song abounding, baby lambs all nestled together  – all of the elements collaborating to bring balance, wealth and meaning to our lives.

This is our breathing space – the space of the largest and most important mother we shall ever know.  Because of her we BREATHE.  Because of the intricate interconnection of all life here on this planet we exist at all.

Let today be a celebration of all that is “mother” to each and every one of us – human, all species, nature, and cosmos.  The mystery of it all would astound us even more if we knew exactly how everything dances together on our behalf.

We are indeed the ones we have been waiting for.  It is in our hands, minds, hearts and souls to protect and bring back into balance that which gives us life….the most important Breathing Space of all – Mother Earth.

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