WHY
WORK WITH THE BREATH?
Breath
is life and affects and has effects on everything we do. It
is a most profound tool for health, growth and change to
which we have constant access. The prana, life-force
that flows through the breath is a vehicle for aiding us
in doing whatever we need and desire to do in life with more
ease, effectiveness, power and joy.
Breathing
deeply is one of the most profound ways
that we can love and nurture ourselves.
It is saying "YES!!!" to life
in a language that all of our cells can understand
and to which they will respond.
To
realize that you have a choice about how you experience
your life, you must first realize that you have a choice
about how you experience your breath.
BREATHWORK
aids anxiety, fatigue, stress reduction,
weight loss, quitting smoking, high blood pressure, asthma, other breathing
difficulties and most importantly enhanced well-being, health and vitality.
1) It
affects us PHYSICALLY in that the quality of our breath affects
the quality of our energy and vitality. Breath affects
the heart rate, the entire circulatory system, digestive
and elimination systems, immune and nervous systems. The
way we breathe has a direct affect on the functioning of
every organ and gland. Breathing more fully on the
inhalation provides more oxygen, which is food for our cells,
thus nourishing us on a cellular level. Breathing more
fully on the exhalation eliminates more carbon dioxide and
toxins and greatly increases the quality of our blood. Improving
the quality of the physical act of breathing can not help
but improve the quality of our health.
2)
It affects us MENTALLY in that when the breath wavers, the
mind is chaotic, when the breath is steady the mind is steady. "Being
conscious of the breath" is the foundation of Eastern
meditation practice.
We
calm the body when we calm the mind and we calm the mind
with the breath. When we focus on the physical movement
of the breath with our mind, our brain waves change and we
move from a realm of thinking to a realm of feeling which
leads us to the realm of “being”. In this
state body, mind and spirit are in harmony and well-being
is experienced.
3) It
affects us EMOTIONALLY in that with conscious awareness steadying
the breath, the parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant
and serenity of the emotions is more easily achieved. Certain
forms of conscious breathing bring repressed emotional processes
to the surface for integration. According to the latest
scientific research of Emotional Intelligence and brain science
we are able to consciously create new neuropath ways in our
brains that can supersede old destructive emotional responses
and behaviors. It
is no accident that the lungs “embrace” the heart
and that with each breath the physical and emotional heart
is strengthened..
4) It
affects us SPIRITUALLY in that the breath as life-force creates
a bridge between the mind and body. At its most subtle
it is a vehicle for “enlightenment” and connection
with a higher life-force, consciousness and source of inspiration
and energy.
Modern
science is just now beginning to corroborate what Yogic and
many Eastern Disciplines have known for over 5,000 years;
that the breath as energy is significant in every aspect
of life and that the physical body is nothing more than a
crystallization around the energy pattern that underlies
it.
The
very simplicity of correct breathing
keeps thousands from seriously considering it
while they spend fortunes in seeking health
through complicated and expensive procedures and medicines.
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The different forms of meditation are as
varied and unique as the spiritual traditions that teach
them. Meditation is a variety of techniques or activities
in which we engage our minds and on which we focus our attention:
Be silent, only silent