April 25th 1998
BREATHE YOUR WAY INTO ECSTASY PART ONE
In the last chapters I wrote a lot about breathing. I described how to breathe with an open mouth into the upper chest, the diaphragm and the thymus gland during massage. Allowing your own individual breathing process and following it with creative visualization in different stages of breathing in and out can deepen the breath. The last exercise from last week "breathing into fingers, hands and arms" has also been described for toes, feet and legs. These two exercises are basic ones for relaxation and they help to increase the energy flow within the whole body.
Since breathing is the most basic function of our body I want to dedicate a whole chapter to breathing.
I have always found breathing an exciting subject and while I was leafing through various books I already started to breathe much deeper, to yawn and feel my eyes water - some of the first steps the body takes to eliminate waste products, to cleanse and to balance.
-In his book"Healing Sounds" Jonathan Goldman describes the break between inbreath and outbreath as a stillpoint where the human body is locked in resonance with itself. Scientist Itzhak Bentov believes that the body creates a wave form that operates at about 7.8 cycles per second. This is believed to be the resonance frequency of the earth and at this stillpoint while we are locked in resonance with ourselves we are also locked in resonance with the earth.
The life energy contained in breath is supposed to be sacred. The Hindus call it "Prana" and in the Orient it is called "Chi" or "Ki". In Hebrew it is called "Ruach" which means "Spirit". Reich called it "Orgon".
For massage and therapy it is the best thing to allow the natural breath to deepen just by breathing through the mouth, watching it and allowing the breathing muscles to relax. In yoga, breathing through the nose is usually recommended. It helps to keep emotions down and find a calm and clear space.
In the chapter about the sacrum and the lower back I described how important it is to learn how to breathe into the lower back. I have called this way of breathing "butterfly breathing".
Various Rebirthing Techniques and "Connective Breathing" are easy to learn but should not be used without a helper or a therapist. Eventually they can bring you into a state of ecstasy but before that you have to go through all kinds of painful feelings and memories. Breathing and emotions are closely related to each other.
I believe that every suppressed breath in any part of the body can be remembered and re-lived just by using connective breathing. As we breathe in actively and rhytmically into our upper chest and let the outbreath go naturally we eventually get in touch with all the experiences in the past where we have supressed our breath and our emotions.
Sometimes fast breathing is recommended. Many people will go to sleep straight away in the beginning of practise sessions. Slowly they can learn to stay awake and alert.
All the mucous in chest and lungs which has been collected through the suppression of feelings, through environmental pollution and the consumption of the wrong food has to come out again via digestion or through coughing, spitting, crying and other methods of elimination.
This way of hyperventilation can cause numbness and a light paralysis of mouth and hands. This does not last long. After a while the body relaxes again and goes back to normal. But I usually try to avoid this from happening because people tend to get frightened. This is one reason why beginners should have a trained helper at their side. They can wake them up as well and assist them with the expression of feelings. They can give them hugs, cushions, water to drink, tissues and a "spitting bowl" if needed and listen to them kindly.
The breathing sessions can start with five minutes and then last up to 1 or 2 hours. Afterwards people are usually exhausted and need a rest and a quiet and safe space. Group sessions are not always a good solution because there are never enough "mummies" to hug and console the people who get into distress.
Used in a modest way the connective breath can deepen the awareness, relax and help to go to sleep.
Next week I will write more about breathing.
The next "Energy in Balance"workshop will start on Monday May 11th 1998 from 7-9pm in Vauxhall SW8. More info on 0171 735 4513.