Moving beyond boredom

There is a Zen teaching story about a student who comes to the Master and tells him, "I'm getting really bored with just feeling my breath coming in and going out all the time. Don't you have a meditation practice that is more exciting?"

The Zen Master replied, "Well, yes. You are now ready for a greater teaching. Follow me." And so, the Master led the student into a courtyard and approached a large barrel of water. "Gaze into the barrel," said the Master. As the student eagerly leaned over and peered in, the Zen Master suddenly pushed the student's head into the water. Being quite strong, the Master was able to hold the student under the water for quite a while, even though the student struggled desperately. 

Finally, the Master let the student come up for air, and as the student gasped the Master asked, "So... is that breath boring?"

We are often taught to crave drama and struggle, yet do we really need them? We are also taught to believe the breath is "nothing special." After all, it happens without us. However, as we pay closer attention to the breath, recall what it is to breathe consciously, we move beyond boredom, into what we deny or overlook. In fact, as we focus on the breath, we engage in what truly matters, and what we seek is 'in plain sight' or 'in plain breath'.

While breathing exercises are growing in popularity, the rhythm of the breath itself is a language that can be decoded. Insight we gain has potential to positively impact our lives.  What is it you desire most? To reclaim power? find new confidence? Be more accepting of who you are? 

It is as if the answer or solution we seek has hidden Itself in the most obvious place. What are we ready to see about the nature of our choices? Which stage of awareness are we willing to reach? 

3 Tips to embody deep gratitude

Nurture the vision of gratitude and escalate into heartfelt appreciation. Embody those feelings as vibrations and sensations as though they are happening in this moment. What is a simple way to do experience the greatest joy and liberation? Inhale and exhale. Notice the sensations of love and acceptance amplify. As we focus, we are one with these sensations that expand and amplify who we are.

Watch what happens as we recall what it feels like to breathe fully and rhythmically. Notice a feeling of gratitude expands.  Sensations of appreciation enable us to unleash more of what we know. Be open to a system of smooth and constant rhythm of energy that feels like a refreshing and exhilarating ocean wave. Life is a series of inhales and exhales. Holding the breath is like choosing to consciously pause life, recalibrate  into freedom, clarity and joy.

Consider these tips:

1) Do breathwork regularly to allow good sensations to nourish the entire body

2) Feel energy growing and expanding throughout the body

3) Discover going beyond comfort zones transforms us (where strength, growth & freedom happen)

Retrain your body to breathe

Everyone breathes but as it is, very few people breathe fully or make connections betweeen how they breathe and their day-to-day behaviours, addictions or other issues. No wonder retraining the body to breathe is gaining momentum and growing more popular than basic yoga or meditation. When ready, a range of breathwork practices enter your scope.

Why take steps to decode our breath? It reveals much about the state of our bio-psycho-social health and empowers us to take responsibility for our lives on a whole new level. Breathing training boosts lung volume and prevents the loss of respiratory capacity. It helps us connect emotions with breathing rhythm and heart rate. What if we could strengthen our posture, heart and spinal health? Breathwork makes us more flexible and resilient and it facilitates the body’s natural self-healing powers. Ready to dive right in?

What if I highlight that breathwork helps us to heal tension, manage chronic pain, fear, depression and anxiety disorders when drugs and other traditional methods are ineffective? It improves our moods, emotions, and sleep states. In addition, breathwork helps us to expand awareness, confidence, intuition, self-esteem, self-appreciation, and self-love and acceptance.

Further, gaining insight into the breath supports heart health and boosts mental health. It allows us to hack into our immune system, our nervous system and our brain, to reclaim or regain control over issues such as high blood pressure, inflammation, asthma, chronic stress, chronic fatigue, and a variety of addictions.

Conscious Breathing techniques trigger the release of opioids (natural pain killers and anti-depressants), as well as dopamine and serotonin (“happy and calming” hormones—neurotransmitters of pleasure, motivation and memory). And they also reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone) the repeated release of which can itself become addictive.

And what about eating disorders? breathing training helps improve digestion and it supports weight loss. Ever wonder where our weight goes as we lose it? Studies show that most of that weight is eliminated through the breath!

So how do we discover the nature of our habits? Poor breathing habits, especially in children, are known to cause unhealthy development and disturbing changes in facial muscles, joints, bones, and teeth alignment. Our ancestors had naturally healthy breathing habits, and they all had straight teeth! So, even the state of our teach is a clue to our breathing habits and deeper issues that may be unconscious!

Many people also ask whether breathwork can assist with healing emotional issues. Breathwork training clears stale stagnant energy from our system. It helps us to access, manage and release suppressed emotions, to control our nervous system and alter our brainwaves. We can recall how this feels and tune into the natural rhythm by retraining the body to breathe. Breathing properly allows us to relax and energize ourselves on demand. What if engaging in breathwork could change our vibration, outlook and attitude? Even a spark of curiosity arising prompts one to explore this more. Get ready to uncover the unexpected, experience life more fully and breath in ways that enable feeling more alive.

Get More out of Life

To get more out of life, its useful to get in touch with our thoughts, emotions and feelings and also be aware of what is happening in the body.

By practising breathwork, we may grow acutely aware of grief, fears, loss, anger, physical pain, emotional pain and energetic imbalances. Many people have heard of the unconscious mind but you may not be aware of the difference between conscious and unconscious breathing and how unconscious breathing plays out in your body.  What if growing aware can improve your health and be a turning point for positive change?

There are periods or situations in our lives when we feel unsafe or unloved. We may hold onto emotional pain for many years, if not lifetimes, until we are ready to address those feelings.  By growing aware of the emotional body and allowing it space to communicate, we gain insight into ourselves and opportunity to heal past or ongoing wounding.  Being present to painful or uncomfortable emotions does not mean acting them out in harmful ways.  Rather, breathwork and related meditation practices allow us to be present with and feel these emotions. To get the most out of life, we are invited to love, accept and integrate all of ourselves. 

If this post resonates, invite you to search relevant key words for related articles like:

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Walking the Path

A path is made by walking it. This is about recognizing life takes on the meaning it is given.  Its easy to be positive or optimistic yet being overly positive doesn't allow feeling deeply. In fact, it blocks out shadows or another side of who we are. We are often taught to rush through adversity to avoid pain.  This does not allow us to get through pain or allow feelings entirely appropriate for different situations. Is it always desirable to rush turning a frown upside down?

A true Yoga perspective would say no.  Each person's truth ought to be honoured. All feelings in the moment deserve love and acceptance. Healthy emotional stages allow for shock, anger, disappointment, sadness then acceptance and reorientation to a more balanced focus.  Eventually, its useful to be more fully open to the unknown or new possibilities. To allow everything to flow, and seeing this is part of wholeness, this is truly walking the path.  The truth is only ever felt directly.