Feel joyful for no reason

Whatever has guided you to this website, from the moment you make up the mind to change, you are already shifting into a new level of consciousness.  Now is the moment to get clearer about what you are doing, why you are doing it, as well as the underlying reasons for your life choices, how you are living, breathing, feeling and being. 

As the will to shift grows, it helps to hear about inspirational mentors who have made lasting personal change. This of course, is only heresay until we experience unique inner shifts ourselves. It pays to train ourselves to be more observant, to break conditioned emotional patterns, to see our environments and time anew to allow authenticity to blossom.

Rest assured, you may have already begun this process.  Nonethless, it can be valuable to receive a bit more insight, related to meditation, breathing and how your body and behaviour offer you signs and signals.  Who you present to the world is not necessarily who you ar at the core.  

Feeling joy for no reason happens as we dismantle our old identity and break the habit of pretending to be someone we are not.

7 Tips to breathe easier

Life's purpose changes for many of us.  We are invited to allow people, events and experiences to shake us up and wake us up rather than put us to sleep.  Showing empathy and compassion for everything that arises on our path is allowing all we encounter to be our teacher, to show us what we are willing to see. Its all about opening up to unleash and experience more of our true selves.

Come what may, the rhythm of the breath is a gauge that helps us recognize which emotions we are feeling and what is really going on beneath the surface. Ponder these 7 tips to breathe easier;  

1. Listen to your breath

We can each come to sense more of what is going on within ourselves by tuning in and paying closer attention to the nature of our own breath. Simply noticing whether we breathe deeply, more shallow or somewhere in between, tells us much about what is going on inside of us.

2.  Ground yourself

As we breathe, we can imagine inhaling air up through our feet to ground ourselves in the Earth and feel more stable.  We can also go further, imagining the breath energy (prana or life force) circulating through the entire body. Focusing on this visualisation has a very peaceful effect.

3. Defrag & recentre

Multi-tasking may cause us to feel like we have a bit of vertigo. When different parts of us feel disconnected or spinning out of control, its helpful to stop wherever we are and sit down. Close the eyes and imagine each inhaled breath is facilitating a defrag.  We can retrieve whatever feels out of place. A computer defrag allows it to slow down and pull its files together to function more efficiently. Each exhale can purge whatever you no longer need. 

4.  Re-orient

When we are faced with life choices, an obvious best course may not stand out rigth away. Sometimes we can get worked up. Fear and anxiety may arise. A helpful approach is to visualize each choice and breath into and out of it and feel the vibe we get with each inhale and exhale.  Letting the rhythm of the breath guide us to what feels right for at this time takes a huge load off mental contemplation.

5.  Rebalance

At different stages, our bodies can seem to feel different temperatures in different places. Maybe the hands and feet feel colder than the rest of the body or, maybe the top half feels colder or warmer than the bottom half. We can always use the breath to help us find balance by sending energy to different parts of the body.

6. Be like an accordion 

Like an accordion, we sometimes feel stretched to our full capacity yet still feel more music could to come out of us. We can use the breath to increase the length of our exhalation so it is logner than our inhalation.  Typically, the rate of inhalation to exhalation is about the same in many people. Yet, we can focus attention on the inhale and gradually extend our exhalation in a sedentary and then a walking meditation. Such techniques are used by Free divers, singers, and individuals with breathing issues or others who simply wish to maximize the benefits from lung capacity and get more oxygen to cells.

7.  Massage the chakras

Awareness of energy anatomy can set the stage for another kind of breath meditation. We can focus on and tune in to each chakra in turn, breathing into it, and sense the state of energy movement, congestion and other details.  This can serve as the beginning of a more in depth breathing meditation which can also involve healing to provide relief from suffering and help us gain new insight into our deeper selves.

Listen to the breath speak

How often do we hear breath speak and truly listen? Here is an insight shared by a Rabbi: 

The name of God back in the day was Yahweh because breath was life. Give it a go.  As we breathe in, we make a sound similar to 'Yah' and out sounds like 'weh.' That's how God got that name. Originally, it was believed that every time a human being took a breath, we are praising the name of the Creator.

Imagine that every creature on this planet, whether they know it or not, says the name of the creator in the language of every breath. Imagine the impact of consciously reminding ourselves this is also the first thing we say when we are born in abody and the last thing said when the physical body dies and soul moves on. Every moment of every day, we are voicing who we are under and through our own breath.

7 Steps to breathe more consciously

Breathing fully and consciously implies normalizing our breathing pattern. Mindful breathing enables us to be more aware and connected to core vibration and natural behaviours.  How do we know whether we are over-breathing or underbreathing? How can we breathe for maximum oxygen cell content? If exploring any new meditation or breathing technique, if it doesn’t feel right, stop doing it.  Trust your intuition. Consider these 7 steps to breathe more consciously;

1. Know our goals

Before embarking on any breathwork, it is wise to know our goals; is it to ease chronic illness? to promote  rehabilitation? to achieve peak athletic or public (stage/vocal) performance? to reduce stress? to manage grief, anxiety, depression? to identify and release emotional trauma? to maintain or restore homeostais? to enrich quality of life? to extend life span? When our intention is clear, the path presents.  By taking initiatives, we have the power to shift our life experience.  We may choose to taste greater confidence, deeper peace or, feel revitalized in unexpected ways. 

2. Invite revelations

Eureka moments change everything. Although the respiratory system of the body is itself involuntary, we actually have control over the rhythm of our breath.  We breath on average, 25,000-30,000 times per day. Yet, many people are fortunate if they breathe up to 70% of their capacity. The other 30% is wasted. How we breathe determines how we feel. What we put in, we get out. If we breathe deeply, we live deeply. If we are shallow breathers, we live a shallow life. Rest assured, we can change our oxygenation efficiency through breath training. This requires growing conscious of our thoughts and feelings and realizing we can change them.

3. Get comfortable

Before engaging in breathing techniques,  it is important to relax and get comfortable, preferably be sitting or laying down.  Silence is important (no speaking) to focus attention. Listening to soft music or mantras are assumed to be soothing yet can also be distracting. It is not advisable to be standing, operating a moving vehicle, machinery or engaging in any activity that requires your full attention. Many breathing techniques are best performed on an empty stomach but we also want to be well-hydrated. Be in a place where fresh air is abundant and the body is at normal temperture (not too hot or cold). Different breathing techniques benefit from different postures during the breathing session.

4.  Make connections

Every moment we inhale a breath, that air is translated into life energy. Its called Chi (China/Japan) and Prana (India). Most people know how it feels to breath freely although some of us only dream about that.    How people breathe around us affects us when we allow it.  When we do not breathe properly, the body breaks down. This affects us energetically, even if we do not see it, we feel it.  It may affect us emotionally, physically, mentally, or on many levels simultaneously. We can even connect our changing breathing rhythm to our emotions and issues arising. In the ancient Indian system, the length of life was measured in number of breaths. Conscious breathing has long been linked to longevity and a mroe fulfilling existence.

5. Choose the technique

If we already have knowledge of a pool of techniques we can draw from, then the next step is to intuitively use the technique best suited to the situation at hand and practice consistently.  If active in a group, we may choose to share what is going on in our life with peers, ask for guidance  from someone we trust about which breathing techniques best suited to help us.  How can we narrow our focus? grow aware of the muscles we use when we breathe,  Are you eager to extend your breath retention? Are you concerned with recurrent shortness of breath? Perhaps Buteyko breathing, with the aim of breathing slower and less, if for you?  pursed lip breathing and diaphramatic breathing would be worth exploring.

6. Repeat 

The key is to follow what feels right and just breathe. For some techniques, it doesn’t matter whether you breathe in and out through the nose or out through the mouth.  In those cases. it’s what works for you.  In other cases, such as rebirthing, cathartic breathing, nasal and mouth breathing are more or less dynamic, have different purposes and effects.  When we practice multiple rounds of the breathing techniques, the effect can be more noticable. It can be very powerful to breathe in a group.  One can move beyond counting the breaths, to completely get out of the head and enter a deep meditative state.

7. Rescan

We can also rescan the body to see the effects of the breathing technique. We can be more aware of how we breathe. We do not wish to waste another breath.  We all have the power to heal ourselves in a more effective way, to perform better, to move our body with more ease. There are so many diseases related to stress. We each have the power to shift the focus when we breathe. Inhalation through the nose tends to be most effective. (Cathartic breathing through the mouth for  is one exception). We take up nitrogen oxide through our nose which is a secret benefit to nose breathing.

 With mindfulness-the practice of peace-we can begin by working to transform the wars within ourselves.  Conscious breathing helps us to do this. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Deepen depth of character

Character deepens with experience.  Perceived (physical) pain and (mental) suffering build character. When things are not going the way our ego wants them to go, we are invited to step back, find patience and understanding. We can stop identifying with pain, see beyond it.

Radiance happens based on the attitude we hold when everythng is going our way or, at least in the direction that feels right or less painful. We navigate the waters of pleasure and pain until we move into calmer water.  As we travel this journey, increasing synchronicities arise.  Events unfold and give us information we did not even consciously know we needed, guide us to options to help us help ourselves, options we were previously unaware.   Acceptance and surrender in practice, is allowing intuition to guide us and trusting ourselves fully.

The perfect example is my recent atlas re-alignment. It was through connecting and engaging with friends that led to that atlas-related referral. For this process, I consulted an individual who helped me gain deeper insight into myself, as well as how to feel into the interconnectedness of my spine, joints, breath and the rest of my body on a whole new level. I now have more detailed understanding of reasons for my posture and breathing that extensive breathwork training had not itself given me.  However, in trusting in that path and completing that training, I was being prepared for what was coming next. A friendly reminder we are always being preapred for the unforeseen.

Similarly, this process led me to a dentist who is now assisting me to piece together a puzzle about my son. Emoional, physical and other symptoms are all related to energy flow.  What we see is always guiding us to see what we are not yet seeing. Recent life experience teaches me that it is the degree of connection and engagement we nurture in our relationships that catapults us to precisely what the soul requires to love on a whole new level. Wisdom of connection is timeless.