Tag: opening breath

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

Ecstatic Breathing – Birthing the Breath

This week I was privileged to view a video that stunned me with its beauty and sacredness.  If you go to the dictionary, ecstatic is described as “in a trance like state of great rapture or delight.  Showing or feeling great enthusiasm.  And….a person who has periods of intense trance like joy”.

In this video you will view a woman giving birth in the most sacred and natural of ways – the way in which it was meant to be.  The most important component in these hours of “labor” was breath, and the sounding that birthed from the breath.  There is no doubt that there is pain involved as you watch this beautiful woman in her birthing passage, yet it is the breath that washes the pain through and expands the stressful process of birthing through “sounding out breath” into an ecstatic state.

I invite you to watch this video now and then come back to see what you can do to practice “sounding out” your breath.

Dr. Chris Northrup posted this link on her twitter feed.  It’s a video of a woman going through labor and birth – an ecstatic birth experience.  The video is 18 minutes long.  I say take the time to watch the entire video.  It is worth every moment spent whether you have ever given birth or not.

You’ll find it here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=149916791692395&ref=share

Sounding Out Breath Practice:
Last week we talked about how the breath is such an integral part of being able to sing with your full being and voice.  A big part of the healing power of singing, sounding, and chanting is that they work to regulate our breathing. When we sing, whatever the words of the song, we tend to “sound the breath out” until it’s time to inhale. The more often we sing, the better our breathing as it expands our capacity to not only bring in more life giving breath, but also intimately supports the letting go within the exhale.

Chanting adds to this the inherent power of certain sounds. Sounding the breath out with ooooommmm has long been practiced to deepen meditative states. And aaaahhhh, the sound that people often make when feeling pleasure or satisfaction, can be used to intentionally generate healing energy in the body.  This sounding out breathing also “turns on” the parasympathetic system in the body which signals the relaxation response, and stimulates the “feel good” chemicals of the endorphin system.

PRACTICE:  With a long slow inhale
 let the air out through the mouth with a
 long sustained sound of aaaaaahhhhhh . . .
Breathe all the way out, until it’s time to inhale
.  Then breathe in through the nose a long slow inhale
 and sound the breath all the way out
 with a long sustained sound of aaaaaahhhhhh . . .Pause for a few moments noticing any feelings or sensations.
Now continue for several more breaths,
 breathing in through the nose, 
filling yourself with energy, and sound out the breath
 with a long, gentle aaaaaahhhhhh . . .

then experiment with a fuller, more powerful aaaaahhhhhhh….changing the texture, sound, and vibration as you feel so moved.

Practice this daily whenever you feel stress or you feel “stuck”.  Breathe into the stress or the frustration and release it with a long slow exhale –  sounding whenever you are able, and experimenting with types of sounds and perhaps movement.  This will become an automatic response to stressful or difficult situations as they happen – and can lead you into a place of ecstatic breath.  Enjoy the moments…birth the breath…    

OTHER BLOGS:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Songs Are Thoughts Sung With The Breath

“Songs are thoughts sung with the breath when people are moved by great forces and ordinary speech no longer suffices”.

“There are so many occasions in one’s life when a joy or a sorrow is felt in such a way that the desire comes to sing. All my being is songs, and I sing as I draw breath.”

— Orpingalik  (Inuit poet and shaman)

From the beginning of time humans sang their stories.  Sacred, playful, joyous, sensual, blues, gospel, or wild – song has woven our history on this planet.  It was at a “Song Weavers” event last weekend that I realized that it is rare that I break out in song myself, and certainly don’t sing with my friends or my community.  It was also at this event that I discovered how tight my singing voice actually was.  Yet, within the space of a couple of hours I also realized how easily, within the company of others, that voice can be released and played with.

The video below instructs us on how to breathe for singing.  Watch and listen carefully and notice that this breath strengthens and expands our diaphragm muscles and relaxes the upper chest, neck and facial muscles –  secondary breathing muscles that are often used in tight, contracted, chest breathing and stressful situations.   The emphasis on lengthening the exhale with the hissss sound allows us to find our ground of being, relaxed voice, and our full expression.  This also builds and expands our capacity for breath and thus for LIFE.  Practice this and then let loose with a song, a sound, a tone!

P.S.  For those of you that are Carol King/James Taylor lovers here is a treat – they are back together and are touring.  Not only do they love to sing the “hits” –  we love to sing along with them!

Breath of Joy!

What if the breath was a pathway to choose joy?  There is a very old Chinese saying that says, “One who half breathes, half lives.”   When you are feeling fatigue, lethargy, slight depression, or inability to focus have you ever just done a Breath Check?  You may find that your breathing has some restrictions. The good news is that you can chose to change that in any moment!

Shallow, upper chest, or restricted breathing represents so many things.  It is a pattern in alignment with restriction, limitation, and shutting down on life – YOUR LIFE!

Have you ever held your nose and tried to taste something?  Or maybe you did that when you were young and your parents wanted you to eat something that you didn’t want to eat…so you held your nose and ate it….because you couldn’t taste it right?!

Shutting down on the breath shuts down more than just the breath.  It obviously impacts your health and aliveness, but it also shuts down your joy and pleasure of living,  being in the moment, your creativity, and your ability to “taste life”.

Here is a simple video that gives you a tool to shift what I call “low life breathing” into “breathing in creative joy”.  Use it often!

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com