Monday, December 23, 2013

Been a long, been a long, been a long time...

Looking for the eye of my hurricane.  That place where I can see the swirling of people and things in my life as they frantically fly in front of me, but not be blown back or away.

Why should this effort bring tears to my eyes?  Am I grieving?  If so, what am I grieving?  Or is it relief?

Telling one's story is important.  To paraphrase something I read from someone, somewhere, "If you can share your story and not have tears, you know that healing has happened."

Don't know if that's the case here, but it came to my mind, so I'm sharing it.

Holidays are hard.  Expectations, which are almost always and usually draining and disappointing, pile up like the snow waiting to be cleared away.  Or for spring to melt it away.  Or a snowplow.  Ow.

That's all for now, just felt inspired to write again.

David

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Breath Websites, Books and CD's


Breath Website Links....

Dennis Lewis' website:

Optimal Breathing:

International Breathwork Foundation:
The Health Care Information You Need
http://www.ibfnetwork.org/

Breathe - The international Breathwork magazine's 
website for Breathwork related information:

Association for Holotropic Breathwork International

The Art of Breathing (Nancy Zi)

The Hendricks Institute

Acting Classes "On the Breath"

The Experience of Breath Middendorf Breath Work: 
A unique education to healing through breath 

Vivation


Breath Books and Tapes...

By Dennis Lewis:
  • Breathing As a Metaphor for Living: 
  • Teachings and Exercises on Complete and Natural Breathing (Available as book and audio tape) 
  • The Tao of Natural Breathing
  • Natural Breathing (Audio CD)
  • Free Your Breath, Free Your Life: 
  • How Conscious Breathing Can Relieve Stress, Increase Vitality, and Help You Live More Fully


By Gay Hendricks:


  • Conscious Breathing: Breathwork for Health, Stress Release, and Personal Mastery 
  • The Breathing Box: 4 Weeks to Healthy Breathing

The Breathing Book: Good Health and Vitality Through Essential Breathwork 
by Donna Farhi

Science of Breath: A Practical Guide 
Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., Alan Hymes

Breathing -The Master Key to Self Healing (Audio CD)
Andrew Weil

Breathing, Movement, Exploration
by Barbara Sellers-Young

The Breathwork Experience
by Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D

Ken Cohen's Guide to Healthy Breathing
by Ken Cohen

My Breath in Art: Acting from Within
by Beatrice Manley

Vivation: The Science of Enjoying All of Your Life
by Jim Leonard and Phil Laut

Meditation: The First and Last Freedom
By Osho

The Art of Breathing: 
6 Simple Lessons for improving your performance and well-being
by Nancy Zi 

Thursday, September 02, 2010

A quote...

Ran across this quote earlier. Seemed appropriate to post it as it's my birthday.

"When we are born, our first action on this earth is to inhale. When we die, our last action on this earth is to exhale. From beginning to end, our life is one immense breath."

(Dennis Lewis in his book Natural Breathing)

I'm finding it really easy to take the inhalations - it's the exhalations that still trip me up.

Namaste.

Monday, August 16, 2010

For spammers and anyone else needing a hobby...

...comments to this blog are moderated. Submitting a comment with affiliate links aren't going to be published, so save us both some time and post elsewhere. Or find a hobby. Kite flying is nice.

Thank you.

David

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Breathing is good...

Listening to the news lately has me wondering where does all the anger and hate come from? There seems to be so much anger between people. Those on the Left are angry with the Right. Those on the Right are angry with those on the Left. Both sides blame the other for the woes of the world.

I'm speaking in generalities, of course.

It's amazing that when I speak one-on-one with most of those I know who lean pretty far to the Left or the Right, we can generally have a civil discussion. But when the same individuals become part of a group - things change.

How does the above relate to the breath? Good question. Not even sure if it does.

I think anger is one of the main problems in the world today. Road rage. School shootings. Democrats vs. Republicans. The Left versus the Right. Countries at war. What's the difference between Driver B flipping off Driver A because Driver A cut them off (intentionally or otherwise) which then leads to Driver A retaliating by cutting off Driver B intentionally and Country B attacking County A because of something Country A did? (Careful - the above is a trick question).

But I digress. I was attempting to connect the world's problems to the breath. Which brings me to the following quote:

"If you look underneath your depression, you'll find anger. Look under your anger and you'll find sadness. And under the sadness is the root of it all, what's really masquerading all the while - fear." Carolyn Stearns, massage therapist, dancer, writer and poet, as quoted in Candace Pert's book, "The Molecules of Emotion."

So. Maybe the real source of the world's problems lies in fear, not anger. And the best way I have found to get past the anger and fear is through the breath.

To be continued...

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Some breathing quotes to ponder...

I ran across these quotes and decided to share them...

"There is one way of breathing which is shameful and constricted. Then there's another way: a breath of love that takes you all the way to Infinity."
- Rumi

"The breath alone is well worth knowing, even if only in terms of health. If we know how to breathe properly, we will have good health."
- Buddhadasa Bhikku, author of Mindfulness with Breathing

"There are many reasons why I practice conscious breathing. Breathing has the power to enhance both the practical present moment and our mystical connection with infinity."
- Gay Hendricks, PH. D author of At the Speed of Life

"Breathing in I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathe well!

David

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Back again

My commitment at this point is to post a least once a week. I would love to have feedback or specific questions to reply to, so feel free to respond.

I had a realization last night dealing with the issue of anger. In the past, I have found myself getting angry at others and not being able to figure out why. Even with the idea of anger being a way of avoiding sadness, I was at a loss. The situation that arose had to do with someone making a mistake (details are unimportant). They made a mistake and I got mad. It wasn't even a mistake that affected me, yet i found myself with some anger brewing.

So, last night when I was meditating, part of my focus was on this issue of getting mad at someone when they made a mistake. What dawned on me at some point was that the first sensation I was able to identify after the person made the mistake was shame. I got the impression the person was feeling shame (or something like that) at their mistake. Maybe it was embarrassment.

Doesn't matter.

What does matter is that when I was able to identify the sensation I was picking up from them, I got a clear image of all the times I felt embarrassed. All the times I felt foolish and then got angry in an attempt to avoid the embarrassment or shame I was feeling.

And that was the key for me. I wasn't mad at the other person. Well, not exactly. At best, I was mad at them because this situation brought up feelings I didn't want to deal with. The idea being, if they hadn't made the mistake, if they hadn't gotten embarrassed, then I wouldn't have to deal with my feelings of embarrassment.

I think this is what Jung was referring to when he wrote of our "shadow selves."

In the book, Meditation - the first and last freedom," Osho encourages us to consider that the source of all emotions is within us. That when something happens and we experience anger or sadness or joy, what we are experiencing are our emotions. Emotions that were already there, but when this "something happens" - the emotion that is already within us is released. The "something that happened" is not the cause of the emotion, just the key that unlocks the door to those emotions locked within us. (the analogy is mine)

But beyond identifying where the emotion comes from, Osho also has a suggestion of what to do with the emotion. Basically, he says, allow the feeling to happen. Don't focus on the person or event which seems to have "caused" the emotion. Focus on the emotion. Allow it to fill you (as a feeling - this doesn't mean that when anger arises one must lash out at others). With the so-called negative emotions, allowing it to fill you will cause the emotion to dissolve. With the so-called positive emotions, you will become the emotion.

Makes sense to me. In my opinion, the two things that gives anger strength are the attempt to hold it in or the attempt to get rid of it by lashing out. One builds pressure, the other builds momentum. But by just allowing the energy of anger (because that's all that emotions are, aren't they - energy?) to grow without trying to hold it in check or giving it momentum - it dissipates.

And speaking of Osho - I sign off with a quote from him:
"Breath is your life, and breath is also the bridge between the conscious and the unconscious, between your body and your soul. This bridge has to be used. If you can use this bridge rightly, you can go to the other shore"

David