“Breathing is one of the simplest things in the world. When we breathe with real freedom, we neither grasp for or hold on to the breath. ” Donna Farhi from The Breathing Book
Though we are coming closer to Winter this picture displays the pure joy that we have all felt in putting our nose close to the new life that is arising from the ground at the first hints of Spring. As this young child bends down to savor that experience there are many things that are happening at once.
She is totally immersed in the Scent of Life with feet planted on the earth bowing down with the innocence of surrender to explore what will meet her as she inhales. This gesture is innate and reminds us of the deep connection that we have with the Earth…and ourselves….through the sense of smell.
The sense of smell is vital to our enjoyment of so many things and is the most primal of our senses. Many species depend on this sense for survival. For humans we have substituted so many “artificial” or chemical scents that many have forgotten what it is like to connect deeply with the natural smells that surround us – pleasant and not so. We have shielded ourselves from feeling the fullness of life within the connection to the natural world, other species and humans.
Have you ever smelled something and a flood of memories or even an instinctive urge to take an action pour forth? Whether it was an aftershave or perfume that a beloved person wore, freshly mowed grass, fresh buttered popcorn, a favorite flower, a negative ion ocean breeze, pine trees in the forest……or the smell of decay, waste or a certain chemical like ether that you had when your tonsils were removed as a young child a long time ago.
For those that are “mouth breathers” there is a multitude of life giving experiences that are being missed not the least of which is an exquisite sense of taste. “Seventy to seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell. Taste buds allow us to perceive only bitter, salty, sweet, and sour flavors. It’s the odor molecules from food that give us most of our taste sensation.
When you put food in your mouth, odor molecules from that food travel through the passage between 
your nose and mouth to olfactory receptor cells at the top of your nasal cavity, just beneath the brain and behind the bridge of the nose. If mucus in your nasal passages becomes too thick, air and odor molecules can’t reach your olfactory receptor cells.
Thus, your brain receives no signal identifying the odor, and everything you eat tastes much the same. You can feel the texture and temperature of the food, but no messengers can tell your brain. The odor molecules remain trapped in your mouth. The pathway has been blocked off to those powerful perceivers of smell–the olfactory bulbs.”
Thus, the nose is meant to be used for breathing for so many reasons and as you can see it directly affects our sense of taste. As you inhale the nose prepares the air to be the right temperature and humidity for the lungs and dust, bacteria and and other tiny particles are removed before the air even reaches the lungs.
A full diaphragmatic breath through the nose inflates all lobes of the lungs giving you more life energy, massaging internal organs, stimulating lymph and vascular flow…… opening the way to fully experiencing this exquisitely choreographed dance between smell and taste.
Fully engaging with our senses of smell and taste through breathing fully offers us the lusciousness and fullness of embodied life. Join me in the Scent of Life……
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Gaye Abbott, RYT assists individuals to open energetic pathways for vibrant aliveness and full expression by removing the blocks that cover our natural innate blueprint, while addressing concerns through the opening of possibility. This is accomplished through a combination of Jin Shin Jyutsu, breath repatterning, yoga therapy and targeted guidance/mentoring revealing the larger purpose and co-creative expression that we are here for.
For those interested in receiving private sessions please contact Gaye at: JoyfulGaye@NaturalPassages.com. Travel to your location in the U.S. or globally is available. Please inquire. Skype: gaye.abbott
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BREATHING SPACES 