Breathe in Peace

The breath, the life force, the wonder of such a simple thing as breathing.

Over the years just about everything that could be said and written about the importance of the breathing in our lives has been done.

Having stated that fact I am still amazed that the breath and its healing potential continues to be largely unrecognised to our general community.

Everyone teaches us about breathing from yoga swamis to midwives training mums for childbirth and still we don’t relate the deep importance of using our breath to give us a better quality of life.

Take a little time to consider the value of the breath in our daily lives and you will be astounded to become aware of the following facts. A normal, and healthy adult will breathe about 12 to 14 times a minute. That will equate to being over 7 million breaths in one year.

If we live for 80 years we will have breathed some 600 million times. I have learned respect for this much ignored and, mostly unconscious process.

Breathing has many parts to play in our lives. The obvious role of the breath for us is the oxygenation and renewal of the blood and deletion of toxins in the blood stream by the process of respiration. The beauty of it is that all this happens automatically.

The breath is so vital to our survival that if we hold our breath for a prolonged period of time we will go unconscious, at which time the autonomic nervous system will take over and breathing will resume.

The oxygen that we breathe also supports the mysterious workings of our brains. Our brains require particular levels of oxygen and sugar to function well, and we will again automatically reach for the extra breath and oxygen that we need for brain function, especially when we are getting tired, and starting to relax and unwind. This is the act of yawning.

Yawning occurs mainly when our bodies are asking for more oxygen, need more energy and we really drag in a big load of oxygen to revive us. Yawning is often a spontaneous act and has been seen as “socially unacceptable’ as it can also indicate that a person is bored! How funny!

Spiritually Swamis, Shamans, Sufis, Greek monks, and mystics, to mention but a few, have used the breath for centuries to raise their consciousness and spiritual awareness. There is nothing like the miracle of breath to raise the vibration and awareness of a soul. I personally have had and witnessed many times the most amazing mystical experiences that were all predicated and sustained by the precious gift of breathing.

For the emotional body, the breath is the gateway for release. Have you ever observed the way that a child will heave into the breath and begin to cry? Children cry naturally and release their emotions expertly, breathing strongly and effortlessly as they express their upsets and dilemmas.

Adults who have not fully realised the healing power of emotion and tears are uncomfortable with “too much” display of emotion and teach children to ‘stop crying’ which unfortunately gives the child the idea that expression of their feelings is wrong. The most commonly used way to control emotion is to hold the breath until the feelings are ‘under control’. The reason for this is that breathing will enhance all our awareness regardless of what they are; happy, mad, sad, or glad.

For many years I have practised as a Rebirther, using the conscious connected breathing technique to assist clients to raise their awareness and to erase the pain and affects of held emotions.

The breath is the catalyst that is used to open the door to the feelings and memories in the body that may have been held for many years. Eventually a person can feel that the time is right or safe to heal past hurts and to finally let them go. Freedom from negative emotion is the pathway to peace and happiness.

I am often asked why Rebirthing sessions work so well. It is the use of the breath after the client has time to download verbally, which makes the difference between a normal counselling session and a Rebirthing session. The breathing allows a client to totally relax and release the emotion at a deeper level than they would be able to by just talking about it. The breath has the ability to access and release the long held energies of the past.

The breath is a gentle flow, not yelling or screaming, as such actions are tensing and forcing of the vocal cords, and the throat and the breath. Rebirthers teach their clients to gently breathe away the emotions that are creating disharmony in their lives.

Breathing “in” peace is a way of creating peace in our lives. Breathing in love, peace and harmony is to honour and respect the power and miracle of the breath.