Breathing

Our Breath is the way we interact with our world. The world inhales us as much as we exhale into the world and the world exhales into us as we inhale. We are in a constant ebb and flow with the world around us. Our breath is our communication with life. All animals including humans give off scent which is often potent with pheremones, a bio-chemical that sends messages to the brain of thoses inhaling it and stimulates the secretion of hormones. Phermones are used to atract mates, or scare off enemies. The memory portion of the human brain is stimulated into recall by scent in a deeper way more than any other sense.The smell of foods, people, places, pets and just the air in general all are a major part of how we choose the life we live. What we breate in helps us create who we are. Just like you are what you eat…you are what you breathe. Sound also is a function of breath and like smell it is used to comunicate as we talk, or sing, or shout we send a vibratory message through the air to be recived by those in range. We expel air that was once contained in our bodies and sent it forth to carry a message to others. By making verbal sounds we comunicate with others. Breath is often concidered and involentary brain action yet unlike other “involentary” actions like the eye dialation or brain function breath is unique in the fact that as neccicary as it is for life it can be controled. The use of the mind and the will to affect changes in the pattern, length, and content of breath can have amazing and evolutionary effects. Many cultures and people around the world have used breath practices to help achive enlightenment and to make better use of the human form. Wether an athlethe training for stamina and power, or a singer looking to get a higher note or stronger pressence, or a yogi seeking after a higher conciousness breath is one of the keys to life.Through understanding breath we come to better understand our interaction with the world around us.

Belly Breathing

The lungs encompass a good amount of our chest cavity yet our chest muscles cannot provide the driving force that our abdomen can. By training the abdominal muscles and diaphram to help pump the lungs we can increase the capacity of our breath as well as its power.

• Sit in a relaxed position in a chair or in lotus or half lotus or stand in a light horse stance
• Begin by breathing through the nose …both inhale and exhale
• next as you inhale expand your stomach and abdomen area
• as you exhale tighten it in using the pressure to help force the air out
• use your belly like a bellows filling it as you inhale and flattening it as you exhale
• this practice can be done for short or long periods of time.

Basic Breath

The basic breath is traditionally how most people breath using thier lungs. The difference is that with this as with all breath practices there is awareness. The nose is once again used for both in and exhalation.

• Begin by siting or standing comfortably
• Inhale using nose to fill the lungs
• Exhale through nose emptying lungs to comfortable capacity
• Continue cycling inhale and exhalations
• This practice can be continued indefinitely