Life outside the womb begins with an inhale and ends with an exhale.  From that first moment to the last, our breath is in a constant state of motion, a rhythmic ebb and flow.  Oxygen is the first and most basic necessity of life.  It is our most important natural resource and the nutrient most needed by every living cell to survive, and especially to thrive.

  We can live without food for an extended period of time, without water for a lesser amount of time, but life without oxygen, without breath, does not exist. It is breath that gives rise to our conscious soul. It is my intention in all classes to bring you to a place where you can access the most oxygen possible. This will aid physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in returning you to an experience of wholeness.

“One can live deprived of speech, for we see the dumb; deprived of sight, for we see the blind; of hearing for we see the deaf; and of mind, for we see the childish; one can live without arms or legs, for those we see. But now it is the breathing spirit alone, the intelligence-self that seizes hold of this body and makes it rise up. This is the all obtaining, the breathing spirit. Together they live in this body and together they go out of it.”

            S. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanisads

  80% of the oxygen in human bodies comes from the air we breathe. The average person breathes between 10 & 16 times per minute, about 100 million breaths in a single lifetime. Yet most of us breathe with only 30% of our breathing capacity. We inhale just enough air to keep us at maintenance levels.

  Unless we have specific breathing problems, such as emphysema or asthma, we may think we breathe just fine, yet are not really providing ourselves enough energy to function at maximum potential. Unless we breathe deeply enough to rid the bodies of toxins, they build up and wreck havoc on our cells.  

The lack of oxygen to cells is the underlying cause of most disease, while toxic overload is a major reason for feeling sluggish and unmotivated. Most of us have the ability to take in 7 times the amount of oxygen normally inhaled. Through breath awareness, we open up the breathing spaces within the body which brings great benefit to body, mind and spirit.

  Getting in touch with our breath is the most important adjunct for all healing processes. The ability to experience our breath and its healing powers lives within each of us; its cost is free.

  “Our breath is constantly rising and falling, ebbing and flowing, entering and leaving our bodies.  Full body breathing is an extraordinary symphony of both powerful and subtle movements that massage our internal organs, oscillate our joints, and alternately tone and release all the muscles in the body.It is full participation with life.” Donna Farhi, The Breathing Book

I teach many approaches to working with the breath, helping you choose the best path for expanding your own breathing spaces.

  Conscious breathing is breath awareness - the place we begin. By consciously following the breath as it moves in and out, we become aware of our breaths’ relationship to our inner and outer lives. Experiencing the physiology of respiration, leads us to realize the emotional and spiritual implications of living and breathing. 

  Ilse Middendorf, a world renowned breath therapist writes, “The awareness of breath movement encompasses the physical, as well as the true nature of the self, as we unfold our vital force into the outer world. It is this breath that we allow to come and go on its own which sustains the basic rhythms of our life processes.”

  Although breathing usually happens without conscious awareness, I and many others have found that bringing awareness to the process is vitally important. Understanding the physiology of the breath is a gift I love to share so that everyone can experience the power in it to expand and transform us. My gift includes helping you feel your breath moving through the body from nose, to thoracic, to abdominal and pelvic areas, reconnecting with your true self while bringing vital energy to all levels of your being.

  In discovering the naturalness of breath, we uncover our personal breathing habits. I teach how to lovingly change limiting habits and remove obstacles that have blocked the flow of free breathing. Whether these blocks are conscious or subconscious, breathing consciously can release them, returning us to an awareness of intrinsic wholeness.

  True natural breathing comes from connecting with our own dormant breath, which is calm, regular, flexible and spontaneous.  The natural breath supports whatever we do, from the most strenuous to the most sedentary. 

  Donna Farhi states, ”Integrated breathing can be the cornerstone for all other human movement patterns and processes, allowing us to be confidently engaged in the world. When we breathe in a relaxed fashion we move from a destructive metabolic state to a constructive one.  This shift from operating in chronic stress mode to a mode of relaxed alertness can affect the synthesis of protein, fat and carbohydrates, increase the production of cells for immune system activation, promote bone repair and growth, as well as enhance the cellular, hormonal and psychological processes.” 

  The great spiritual traditions of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism - have practiced Breath Awareness as part of spiritual awakening and development. It is a road into the world of meditation, self-healing and transformation. 

“You are asking me for tools,
And I am giving them to you.
Breathe.
Breathe long and deep
Breathe slowly and gently.
Breathe in the soft, sweet
Nothingness of life,
so full of energy, so full of love.
It is God’s love you are breathing.
Breathe deeply and you can feel it.
Breathe very, very deeply
And the love will make you cry.
For Joy.
For you have met your God,
And your God has
Introduced you to your soul.” 

Conversations with God:
An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 3
Neale Donald Walsch

  With every inhalation, we ingest the cosmic universe; we become proactive; reaching into the future and making it part of our present by bringing in life sustaining energy. As we breathe in we expand our bodies. The more open our breathing spaces are, the more cosmic energy circulates within us. With compassion and clarity, I show you how to open your breathing spaces and experience the full flow of breath. 

  Exhaling, we expel impure air, carbon dioxide, tensions, feelings, concepts, attitudes, expectations. Out flowing individual energy unites with cosmic energy, providing progressive relaxation. The body exists in a state of equalized pressure. Any lasting transformation of the breath usually begins with learning how to exhale completely. Our lungs are full of stale air that has to be exhaled in order to make room for the fresh air. In full inhalation, which arises by itself after full exhalation, we renew ourselves with fresh air, oxygen, and fresh impressions of everything in and around us. 

  In addition to breath awareness, Dennis Lewis, Free Your Breath Free Your Mind, identifies six other approaches to working with the Breath:

  Controlled breathing- intentionally controlling the breath to bring about abeneficial result. Many relaxation and other types of breathing exercises fall into this category.

  Pranayama- the study of Yogic breathing, is the richest source of controlled breathing practices and embraces ancient wisdom.

  Focused breathing- is especially helpful for self-healing. We use the mind to bring our full attention to a specific area of the body. We then use intention to direct the inner and outer movements and energies of our breath to that area. This increased attention supports lymph and venous blood flow, while the increased movement of the tissue supports oxygenation.

  Movement Supported Breath- movement is the fundamental expression of life force. Life and breath depend on movement. In my classes, I encourage students to experience the relationship between breath and movement, using exercises from yoga and chi gong to open breathing spaces while relaxing and stretching muscles. This relieves tightness and discomfort, allowing breath to engage and activate tissues, organs, bones and various energies in the area.

  Position Supported Breath- best positions for inducing proper breathing. 

  Touch Supported Breath- the use of various kinds of touch to awaken and influence sensory fibers in and beneath the skin - tapping, touching, rubbing, pulling, massage, pressure points.

  Sound Supported Breath- sound function of breath used to communicate. As we talk, sing or shout we send a vibratory message through the air to be received by those in range. We expel air once contained in our bodies and send it forth to carry a message to others. Toning works by creating extended vocal sounds on a single vowel in order to experience the sound and where it resonates in the body. Every vowel resonates in a unique area. Toning massages your body from the inside out with many balancing benefits. It also synchronizes brain waves and helps to quickly relieve tension.

  In addition to working in the above way with breath I also conduct private or small group, Circle Breathing sessions. Circle Breathing is a powerful self-healing process. It opens up restricted breathing patterns, brings up feelings and memories while balancing, unblocking and cleansing the subconscious mind, and helps us connect with higher states of consciousness through integration of body, mind and spirit experiences. 

  Breath Awareness is essential in any self-directed healing process. In itself it is transformational and enhances all other healing modalities. The study and experience of full-body breathing has changed my life. Take a breath and change yours.

HEALTH BENEFIT CLAIMS OF FULL-BODY BREATHING