breathe.....

It’s been a busy time, what with Easter and the school holidays...my family of course were working hard to maximise the benefits of this time. Youngest was enjoying the holiday and getting school items up to scratch. So in fact we tended to see less of each other really, and be a little chaotic and stressed, the streets have been teeming with sunny holiday makers and cars have darting about making it look less like a country town and more like Sydney......it’s nice to be in the quiet of today...see the streets a little deserted and hear myself think. We might even manage a family dinner or two again; routine has its place for sure!

I have had a productive few weeks, what with writing and work and the most inspiring singing workshop I have ever had the pleasure to partake in. The voice is so much a tool of breath and this is so much a part of my meditation life. I cannot help but marvel at the wonders of breath and its harnessing of as a tool for better living on many levels including singing...I try to be conscious of my breath in as many moments as possible throughout my day!

The first step in hale and hearty breathing is to become conscious of how we basically breathe. From the perspective of the world's great spiritual traditions, our breath not only brings needed oxygen and other gases to the physical body, but it can also bring, when we are conscious of it, the finer energies (prana, chi, and so on) needed to help nurture our higher bodies--the subtle body, causal body, and so on. But no matter what we may believe about our soul and spirit, our breath, and how we breathe, is intimately connected with all aspects of our being.

In today's strident, high-stress world, we stand, sleep, speak, act, and move in ways that chip away at our breathing and our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. When we look at ourselves in action, when we actually sense and observe ourselves honestly for a moment, we see that we carry vast amounts of unnecessary tension throughout our bodies. We may sense it in our hands, face, eyes, jaw, tongue, throat, belly, back, chest, and so on. These tensions can and often do impede the natural movement of the diaphragm and its coordination with the secondary breathing muscles. They also impede the harmonious flow of the breath of life through our body/mind.

According to several European medical doctors and numerous Taoist, Buddhist, Hindu, Hawaiian, and Native American healers and spiritual teachers, there are at least 200 conditions of life and diseases that relate directly to incorrect breathing!

When we are born our breathing is naturally right, babies can breathe, yell and scream with optimum effect because they use their lungs without conscious thought. As we grow older, some people become lazy in their habits only using the upper part of the lungs, taking a shallow breath instead of a normal one.

It’s a fact that the average person reaches peak respiratory function and lung capacity in their mid 20's. Then they begin to lose respiratory capacity: between 9 and 25% for every decade of life! Wow! So, unless you are doing something to maintain or improve your breathing capacity, it will decline, and with it, our general health, life expectancy, and for that matter, our spirit too!
It’s also true that given an optimal diet, the respiratory system should be responsible for eliminating 70% of your metabolic waste. The remainder should be eliminated through defecation 3%, urination 8%, and perspiration 19%. So, if we think that going to the bathroom everyday is important, or that working up a good sweat now and then is healthy, we should think again about the value of breathing!

To see and release the unnecessary tensions that fill our lives, and to allow the breath of life to manifest fully through us and others, begins with sensing and observing ourselves at this very moment, paying special attention to the tensions that propel us through time, as well as the inner attitudes that fuel them. It begins with being present to "what is," without any self-deception. This is the beginning of real transformation, both for ourselves personally and for the world. And it all begins with awareness of the breath.
The wonderful, free, sacred breath!

So on that note, I will take a breath and leave you to ponder how you breathe.