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Conscious Breath

All healing begins with awareness. The simple act of paying attention — to a pain in the body, to a difficult emotion, to an ailing relationship — sends life-energy to the object of our awareness. As we connect via energy, things open, lighten, clear, heal.

As best you can, pay attention to your breathing, not just during these exercises, but throughout your day. Any moment in which you are aware of your breath, healing happens.

Begin by paying attention
to your next few breaths.
Even as you continue to read these words,
also notice your breathing
and that you can easily read and breathe
and practice awareness of breath,
all in the same moment.
Pay attention to the quality of each inhale.
Even as you read, notice the feelings and
sensations of breath flowing into your body.
Feel the places in your torso that move
or do not move with each inhalation.
Pay attention to the quality of each exhale.
Even as you read, notice the feelings and
sensations of breath flowing from your body.
Feel the places in your torso that move
or do not move with each exhalation.
Now return to the top of this page
and read through again,
paying close attention to the ebb and flow
of each breath, even as you pay
close attention to the sound and meaning
of each word, and for a minute or so,
simply pay attention to yourself breathing,
eyes closing for a few more breaths . . .

Practice 3 times a day.
When you start noticing your breathing
At varying times throughout your day
You are ready to move on to the next breath.

Sail forth — steer for the deep waters only,
Reckless O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me,
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

O brave soul!
O farther farther sail!
O daring joy, but safe! are they not all the seas of God?
O farther, farther, farther sail!

Walt Whitman

It has been known for centuries that it is possible to induce profound changes of consciousness by techniques that involve breathing. The procedures that have been used for this purpose by ancient and non-Western cultures cover a very wide range from drastic interferences with breathing to subtle and sophisticated exercises of the various spiritual traditions. Thus the original form of baptism as it was practiced by the Essenes involved forced submersion of the initiate under water, which typically brought the individual close to death by suffocation. This drastic procedure induced a convincing experience of death and rebirth, a far cry from its modern form involving sprinkling of water and a verbal formula. In some other groups, the neophytes were half-choked by smoke, by strangulation, or by compression of the carotid arteries. Profound changes in consciousness can be induced by both extremes in the breathing rate — hyperventilation and prolonged withholding of breath — or a combination of both.

The Adventure of Self-Discovery
Stanislav Grof

An irony of history is that a child conceived, birthed, and brought up without restraint of any conceivable kind would never need restraining, not as a child, adolescent, or adult…[O]ur natural state is one of unbroken relationship with our creator, in which everything works together for good as proposed, and the natural instinct of the child is to maintain that state of relationship at all costs.

The Biology of Transcendence
Joseph Chilton Pearce

“Take a deep breath” can be very bad advice to someone who is feeling anxious or is agitated. If such a person begins taking deep breaths, they are likely to experience an even more aroused state. A person prone to anxiety most likely is at or over their optimum CO2 level and needs to slow their respiration more than increase their intake volume through “take a deep breath.”

Joel McPherson

Too much oxygen and not enough carbon dioxide can create an agitated state. As you learn to exhale slowly, you conserve carbon dioxide and rebalance the system. However, too much carbon dioxide, and not enough oxygen, can create feelings of fatigue and depression. Learning to inhale slowly re-balances your system by taking in more oxygen. In extreme cases, a restricted supply of oxygen can contribute to anxiety, panic attacks, and even phobias. Less productive exhaling can also result in a buildup of toxins that would have been eliminated through breathing.

Joel McPherson

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