Two Core Techniques in Breathwork

This is the second article in a new series on the Practice of Breathwork and the Path of Breath Mastery. In the first article, we explored the Two Basic Aspects of the Practice. They are:

1. Breath Awareness
2. Conscious Breathing

Now we will focus on Two Core Exercises or Techniques:

1. The Coming Home Breath
2. Continuous Breathing

Another name for the “Coming Home Breath” is the “Cleansing Breath.” Another name for “Continuous Breathing” is “Connected Breathing.” The Coming Home Breath is basically an exaggerated sigh of relief. Continuous Breathing means to spin the breath like a wheel.

The Cleansing Breath involves a full expansive inhale with a quick and total release of the exhale. Continuous Breathing means there are

no pauses or gaps between the breaths: the inhale is connected to the exhale and the exhale is connected to the inhale.

Notice that the Cleansing Breath or the sigh of relief is not a technique at all: it is a natural automatic response to a change in our physical, emotional or psychological state. It is an expression or a reflection of a change in our energy.

We already know how to do a sigh of relief. It becomes a breathwork “exercise” or “technique” when we do it deliberately—when we exaggerate it. An important part of this technique is to release the exhale all at once rather than slowly; and to relax and release our muscles and joints at the same time that we release the exhale. Imagine a bow and arrow. We draw the bow back on th e inhale, and we let the arrow fly on the exhale. The further back we draw the bow, the further the arrow will fly. The bigger or more expansive the inhale,

the greater the release and relief on the exhale. If you don’t let go of the arrow, or if you release it slowly, it doesn’t fly at all.

We call it a “Coming Home Breath” for a reason: it helps us to return to a natural state of ease and grace. When we move from a state

of pain to no pain, or from fear to no fear, the sigh of relief naturally happens by itself. And when we consciously give ourselves a sigh of relief, we naturally move our system toward a state of comfort and pleasure.

I know this sounds simple: but that’s because it is! The simplest things are always the most powerful. The Coming Home Breath has treme


ndous cumulative benefits on all levels of health and wellbeing when we practice it regularly. Connected Breathing, the other core skill means that inhale turns into the exhale and the exhale merges with the inhale. is connected to the exhale and the exhale is connected to the inhale. In other words the breathing is continuous or circular. An important part of this practice is to make the inhale active and the exhale passive.

When we are anxious, afraid or in pain, or when we are under emotional or psychological stress, it is very difficult or even impossible to access a natural sigh of relief or to breathe in a connected way. Pain and fear disturb the smooth continuous flow of breath, and prevent a full expansive inhale and a full release of the exhale.

When we can manage to take a full expansive inhale and give ourselves a big soothing sigh of relief, when we can get our breath flowing and turning smoothly like a wheel, we dissolve and release tension and pain, fear and anxiety.

One of the principles of breathwork is to bring these breathing exercises and techniques into our daily lives. We need to breathe fully and freely when we find ourselves holding our breath; and we need to get the breath moving smoothly, gently when it gets stuck, or when it becomes disturbed.

We can use these two core breathing techniques to prevent or release stress. We can engage in them to reduce or eliminate anxiety. We can use them to awaken creative and healing energies. We can use the to calm or set tle our emotions, to quiet or focus our mind, or to relax and energize our body.

We need to practice these two core breathing skills until we master them, until we can do them anytime, anywhere—no matter what is happening in us or around us. The mastery of these two simple skills leads to something called freedom!

Stay tuned for the third article in this series…

Wishing you luck in your practice and many blessings on your path!
Dan
P.S. There are a number of details and subtleties in the advanced use and application of these and other techniques that are best learned

over a series of sessions with a good coach or facilitator. You can find information about Breathwork Practitioner Training at:

[Link to One Year Seminar Landing Page]

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

Visit: http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

Creating More Wellness thru the Practice of Conscious Breathing.

Theoretical approaches to health and well-being are fine, but real results can only come thru a practical and pragmatic approach. And Conscious Breathing is just such an approach. Our overall health—physically, emotionally and psychologically—is directly linked to breathing. Our ability to prevent and control stress, and therefore to improve the quality of our lives is directly linked to breathing.

To calm a restless mind and to relax an agitated body, breathe in a deep, slow, soft way. By breathing in this way, you naturally quiet the mind and relax the body. When you breathe deeply, calmly, softly, and consciously, you also begin to control two key hormones involved in the stress response: adrenaline and cortisol.

Conscious Breathing is not complicated or difficult. Try it right now. Play with this simple breathing pattern: a 2 to 1 ratio. That means let the exhale be twice as long as the inhale.

If you breathe in for a count of 1, then breathe out for a count of 2.

If you breathe in for a count of 2, then breathe out for a count of 4.

If you breathe in for a count of 3, then breathe out for a count of 6.

Once you get into a gentle easy breathing rhythm, imagine viewing yourself from above or outside of your body. See yourself breathing fully and freely, and feeling rested, peaceful, clear, calm and energized. When we visualize internal harmony and balance, we enhance our intuitive spiritual abilities, and we also calm our logical analytical mind.

By turning to your breath in this way, you can shift from negative thoughts or uncomfortable feelings, and you can regain your comfort and composure in times of stress. Thru the practice of Conscious Breathing, we actually produce physical, anatomical, and structural changes in the in the brain and nervous system, resulting in permanent benefits.

By developing the ability to combine relaxation and breathing, by deliberately focusing on calmness and pleasure, we anchor a very resourceful state in our body-mind system. With regular practice, the breathing begins to automatically restore us to a state of peace and balance when we become agitated or stressed.

With just a little practice, you can renew and restore yourself at will. Some people require days or weeks to rejuvenate themselves. But with conscious breathing, you can renew and refresh yourself in just a few minutes. Think of it as learning “the art of minute vacations.”

If you desire optimum health, it’s not enough to just treat symptoms when they occur. You need to switch from being reactive to proactive. In addition to Breathwork, one way of being proactive is this:

Just before you fall off to sleep, take a few minutes to bring to mind at least three positive experiences you had: moments or events during the day that gave you a feeling of happiness. This will not only help you sleep like a baby, it will also set up a subconscious pattern, a habit, a tendency to feel good all the time!

Breathe out for a count of 4…
Breathe in for a count of 2…
Breathe out for a count of 4…
Breathe in for a count of 2…

As you are breathing, deliberately relax the muscles of your body and focus on images and feelings of pleasure…

Don’t underestimate the power of this simple practice. If you do it for a few minutes from time to time throughout the day, you will experience the undeniable benefits for yourself!

There are many different breathing exercises, meditations and techniques that you can use to create more wellness in body, mind, and spirit.

If you’d like to learn more, then I invite you to enroll in the Online Course in Breathwork: 21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Conscious Breathing.

Good luck in your practice!

Love and Blessings

Dan

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals!

Visit: http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

The Amazing Benefits of Connected Breathing

Once upon a time, only the most advanced yogis or Taoist masters practiced and taught this breathing technique. Today tens of thousands of people ‘in the know’ have mastered it, and are utilizing it with great zeal and success—including world-class athletes, elite warriors, top martial artists, and peak performers in almost every field.

Connected Breathing was once an occult practice, cloaked in rituals and taught in mystery schools, passed on only to the most deserving students or worthy acolytes. But now the secret is out! Cab drivers, housewives, and corporate executives are learning it from cognitive therapists and behavioral scientists. Spiritual teachers and healing artists are using it and celebrating the benefits!

Connected Breathing is also called “circular breathing” “continuous breathing” and “energy breathing”

It was called “rebirthing” when I learned it in the mid 70’s. I wrote about my first rebirthing session in an earlier blog. Needless to say, it was mind blowing and life changing! I called it “Spiritual Breathing” and decided right then and there to devote my life to sharing it with the world.

Most people back then called it “new age nonsense.” The average person felt that it was “too good to be true.” This was understandable, because the benefits of the practice were often so incredible, so astonishing, and so immediate. Mainstream medical scientists simply wrote off the many reports and testimonials as hyperbole or wishful thinking.

Despite the cynics, skeptics, and naysayers, I have traveled to over 40 countries in the past 37 years, and I have initiated more than 80,000 people into this amazing practice. And I am only one among an army of enthusiastic proponents! In fact several million people have now been introduced to this transformational breathing technique.

Connected Breathing is used to increase energy and to eliminate stress, anxiety, and depression. It is used to bring deep relaxation and to heal post traumatic stress. It is used to prevent and recover from illness and injury.

It is used to release suppressed emotions, to awaken creative energies, and to build up the immune system. Cancer patients use it to alleviate pain, fatigue, and nausea. It is used in tantric practices and during child birth.

Connected breathing is both a doing and a non-doing at the same time. Wrap your Zen mind around that! I love it because it brings together the two fundamental aspects of Breathwork: “Breath Awareness” and “Conscious Breathing.”

This way of breathing establishes a smooth continuous flow of energy and awareness in the body. It is an easy and natural breathing pattern. It is a gentle yet dynamic form of meditation.The Buddha did it. Most animals do it. And if you observe house cats, you will see that they too are masters of it!

And so what exactly is Connected Breathing? 

Simply speaking, the breaths are literally connected. That means there are no pauses or gaps between the inhales and the exhales. The in-breaths merge with the out-breaths, and the out-breaths merge with the in-breaths. Breathing is continuous; it turns like a wheel, smoothly, in an uninterrupted way.

Try it now:

Simply relax your body and give the breathing your undivided attention. Get the breath moving in and out gently, and keep it smoothly turning like a wheel.

Connect your inhale to your exhale, and your exhale to your inhale, without any pauses or gaps between the breaths. No hesitating or holding the breath for a moment between the inhale and the exhale. And no waiting or resting between the exhale and the inhale.

The inhale is slightly active; the exhale is totally relaxed. Pull the breath in slowly and consciously; and let the exhale go quickly and completely. Ride the curve of the breath as it turns from inhale to exhale and from exhale to inhale.

Practice this way of breathing every day according to this formula: 10+10+(10×2).

That means doing it for ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes in the evening, and ten times during the day for two minutes each time.

If you practice it in this way, I guarantee that you will be amazed by the results! If you think that I am exaggerating, then try it for 21 days and experience the extraordinary benefits for yourself. And please be sure to write to me about your personal experience.

Various thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotions will no doubt arise in the process. If you don’t allow these things to distract you, if you don’t make them important, if you don’t react to them, and instead stay focused on relaxing and doing the connected breathing, you will observe that all those things naturally pass or fall away on their own.

With practice, you’ll learn to make subtle intuitive adjustments to the breathing rhythm. And in so doing, you will develop the ability to overcome or transcend any negative or limiting physiological, emotional or psychological state. When you master it, you will realize that if nothing can disturb your breathing, then nothing can disturb you!

I believe that Connected Breathing is one of the oldest and purest forms of Kriya Yoga.
 
It has been rediscovered and restored in our time. You can be renewed and refreshed by it right now—not through strict effort or a long egoic struggle—but through a natural attraction and open attention to that which is always already present and continuously alive in you:

Try it. You’ll like it!

Good luck in your practice.

Dan

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

Visit: http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

Doctor Prescribes A Breathing Prescription For Common Ailments and Serious Medical Conditions!

Recently I had the pleasure of spending a day with Richard Brown, MD. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, and practices a body-mind-breath approach to health and healing. How can you not love him!

Dr. Brown and his wife Dr. Patricia Gerbarg (also a psychiatrist) have co-authored a book called “The Healing Power of the Breath.” They have been taking breathwork to veterans and military families, to disaster victims, doing wonderful in the areas of PTSD and TBI.

I found Richard to be a very bright, clear, and conservative teacher. His introduction to conscious breathing and breathwork was easy, basic, gentle, and not scary at all!

I love that in addition to preaching the benefits of conscious breathing, yoga, chi kung, martial arts, and meditation, he also practices these things in his own life for his own personal well-being.

He teaches a very simple, safe, breathing method that triggers the body’s natural healing mechanisms and re-sets the nervous system. He combines breathing with movement, breathing with sound, breathing with visualization/imagery.

He teaches people to use breathwork to deal with stress, to manage emotions,to lower blood pressure, to “treat” fear, pain, anxiety, depression, and much more.

His uses as a core breathing exercise called the “Coherent Breath,” which is basically a slow gentle breathing rhythm at a steady rate of about 5 breaths per minute.

He teaches the 4-4-6-2 exercise: inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 6, hold 2. He also teaches the “Ujjayi Breath,” and the “Ha Breath” together with simple tai chi movements.

He incorporates the “Open Focus” method and a simple Chi Kung series called the “4 Golden Wheels.”
He teaches a simple integrated practice, involving:

1. Movement
2. Breathing
3. Meditation

The movement is to awaken and raise energy, breathing to circulate and distribute energy, and meditation to gather and store energy.

He uses an analogy/metaphor of washing clothes. Movement is the prewash, breathing is wash and rinse, meditation: dry and fold. I love it!

I love that he uses a body, mind, spirit—holistic—approach. And he sites many medical/scientific studies that support the healing effects of breathwork.

He talks a lot about energy—Prana, Chi, Ki—about awakening it, circulating it, and storing it. And he encourages people to “move” energy through their hands, and to move it up and down in the body between the base of the spine and the top of the head.

I love that he advocates 20 minutes of breathing practice every day, and that he continuously reiterates the importance of a daily practice.

He encourages people to accept and allow, and to relax into whatever feelings, sensations, thoughts, images, or emotions that come up. That is so important in Breathwork! And he wisely considers these symptoms to be natural signs of healing and stress release.

I am so happy to see more and more mainstream medical doctors moving toward integrative medicine, using alternative remedies, and prescribing things like breathwork.

The world has come a long way since the early 1970’s, when most medical doctors denounced and disparaged those of us who chose breathwork and other holistic modalities over the mainstream drug and surgery approach!

I celebrate you Dr. Brown! And I thank you for the work that you do!

Dr. Brown’s website is www.haveahealthymind.com

He endorses www.robertpeng.com, www.openfocus.com, www.STWS.org

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

Visit:http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

21 Breathwork Tips and Techniques for Preventing Burnout

I'd like to share with you some of the points that we cover in the Stress and Breathing, Burnout and Breathwork Seminars. This is a body-mind-breath approach to preventing burnout and for recovering from it. In the Chinese tradition we would say that we "regulate body, regulate mind, and regulate breath." 
 

At the seminars, we go more deeply and into more detail with each of these points; and we explore the practical exercises and techniques related to them. If you apply any one of them, be assured you will experience a benefit. Master a good number of them as many seminar participants have, and like them, you will find that burnout is a thing of the past!

 

21 Breathwork Tips and Techniques for Preventing Burnout:

1. Question the idea of scarcity and drop your sense of limitation. One of the laws of nature and existence is "abundance." You are part of that nature and existence.
2. Awaken to the source of your energy and learn to breathe in a way that strengthens your connection to it. Be conscious of that connection in all that you do, especially when working with others.
3. Know that in reality the more you give, the more you receive. (This is not just a pretty philosophy: it's how energy works.)
4. Re-awaken in yourself the unmanageable spontaneous energy that you had as a child. Only adults (adulterated children) suffer from burnout!
5. Learn to use your breathing to generate energy at will. Be an ever-flowing source of aliveness. Fill yourself up and overflow with energy. (Don't just draw in energy from around you; draw energy up from within you.)
6. Master the art of taking "minute vacations." (With practice, you can get more out of a few minutes of spiritual breathing than many people get from a weekend in the Bahamas!)
7. Learn to use your breath to draw energy into your body and release tension at the same time. Learn to breathe in a way that both charges and relaxes you, that both strengthens and soothes you.
8. Be more playful in life and relationships find a way to bring some playfulness to your work. (If you must be "serious" on the job, then at least balance it with a huge dose of playfulness and fun after work!)
9. Establish breathing habits and patterns that automatically recharge and restore you. (Nothing works better than this at making you immune to burnout)
10. Learn the "full yogic breath" and how to infuse every cell in your body with breath energy. (This is an art that will serve you to no end!)
11. Master "De-Reflexive Breathing." Learn to mentally inhale while physically exhaling, and mentally exhale while physically inhaling. (Read that again. It is the essence of this ancient breathwork exercise, meditation, technique… also called Krishna's kriya yoga)
12. Right livelihood: make sure that what you do is aligned with your purpose. (Burnout can be a wake up call to make changes in your life.)
13. Drop energy suckers like judgment, resistance, and attachment. (these are big proven contributors to stress and burnout, and yet people insist on holding on to them!)
14. Realize that everything is love, and that we live in an infinite ocean of love. (Begin to acknowledge and appreciate expressions of love: smiles, small gifts, friendly advice, even criticism… all expressions of love!)
15. Free up blocked and stuck emotional energy by practicing forgiveness and gratitude. (Nothing will burn you out more than generating and holding on to negative emotions! Do the opposite and liberate yourself!)
16. Don't resist your down cycles: they are a natural and necessary part of life and growth. (Don't waste precious life energy fighting your rhythms and cycles!)
17. Identify and eliminate habitual muscular contractions—chronic physical tension. (On the most direct and practical level this eats up life force that you could be using in much better ways!)
18. Learn to release your breath—master the skill of letting go of your exhale. (When you master this, you can let go of many other things, like pain, tension, anxiety, fear, disturbing thoughts, and the past!)
19. Do your inner work: free yourself of guilt, shame, anger, resentment, etc. (Breathe these things out of your body and mind, out of your life… forever!)
20. Learn the cleansing breath—the "coming home breath." (This is built on a natural reflex: the sigh of relief. This single skill can set you free in a moment. Master it!)
21. Practice faith and trust. Remember that you are always already safe and free! (Don't let that toxic fearful doubting voice in your head lead you to believe anything else!)

I hope you take some of the tips to heart! And I hope you put some of them to work in your life!

 

I love getting comments and questions from my readers, so feel free to send me yours at: dan@breathmastery.com

 

Good luck in your practice.
Love and blessings to all,
Dan

PS: The audio recording together with a full transcript of the "Burnout Prevention Seminar" held in Johannesburg is available. Contact me for information.

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

Visit:http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

Breathwork and Mindfulness

What does every world-class athlete do just before they dive, jump, shoot, or swing?
They breathe! They take a conscious breath—or they take a few of them.

Martial artists, healing artists, performing artists, and peak-performers of every kind use conscious breathing to channel and focus their attention and energy.

Tuning into your breathing creates immediate physical and mental focus. A few conscious breaths can strengthen your will, fuel your determination, and renew your commitment to achieving a goal. 

Breathwork is the art and science of using breath awareness and conscious breathing for health, growth and change—in body, mind, and spirit.

Mindfulness can be understood as a calm attentive awareness of one’s mind, body, and emotions; and it can include everything in one’s moment-to-moment reality. 

The subtle movements and sensations connected to the flow of breath provide the perfect means and method of developing mindfulness; and mindfulness is the key to personal development and spiritual enlightenment. 

Conscious Breathing helps you to feel grounded. A few conscious breaths can bring you clarity. A few conscious breaths can restore your emotional balance and help you to recover from an upset or a distraction. 

Conscious Breathing is a natural centering technique. It re-energizes and relaxes you. In fact, conscious breathing is the quickest and most effective way to clear your head, settle your stomach, and calm your nerves. 

The more conscious we are of our breathing, the more conscious we become of everything. The more aware we are of the subtle details of our breathing, the more aware we become of many other things in ourselves and others, in life and the world.

Breathing is literally a source of inspiration. And breathwork is a perfect way to open our hearts to love. The simple act of conscious breathing, in fact, can form the basis of a profound spiritual practice. 

Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist saints throughout history incorporated breathwork into their prayers, rituals, and ceremonies. 

The Spirit of Breath has always been at the heart of personal and planetary awakening. And today we find that Breathworkers are at that the cutting edge of the human potential and world peace movements.

The simple act of observing your breath—of turning to it and focusing on it—has so many proven benefits on so many levels that frankly, I think you’d have to be crazy not to practice it!

Breathwork is my passion (pass-I-on). It is also my profession (profess-I-on).

I am committed to helping anyone with a belly button to discover, explore and develop the power and potential of Breathwork. I encourage you to deepen your experience of Conscious Breathing, and to enjoy the benefits for yourself! 

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

Visit: http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership

The Two Basics Aspects of Breathwork

This month I start a series of articles on Breathwork, beginning with the two basic aspects of the practice: Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing. You can think of these as yin and yang aspects, active and passive practices.

Breath Awareness means simply observing the breath, watching the breath, noticing the breathing… witnessing it. This is the passive aspect. You don’t breathe in any particular way: the breaths come and go by themselves.

The Awareness we are talking about is meditative awareness. It is not thinking, not judging, not comparing, not analyzing: it is a soft open state of alertness or presence. Breath Awareness is a “mindfulness” practice, with extraordinary benefits.

As you observe your breathing moment to moment, you are looking for details: sense the breath, listen to it. How do you know you are breathing? What are the feelings and sensations that occur? Where do you notice those feelings and sensations? What muscles do you use? Where does the breath go in you? What does it touch? What moves when you breathe?

As you become more aware of the breath, you naturally become more aware of other things in your mind and body: thoughts, feelings and sensations, and emotions. You become aware of your self-talk, your physical tensions, energetic contractions, habits, patterns, urges, reactions. Witness these things. Don’t make them important.

When your mind wanders, when miscellaneous thoughts or things around you distract you, simply return your attention to the breath. This practice of awareness comes without attachment, resistance or judgment. It is pure conscious awareness.

Nothing is happening to you: it is just happening. You are the witness.

The second aspect is Conscious Breathing. This is where you come in. You give the breathing a certain quality or pattern. You breathe with a certain intention. You control and direct the breath in some way. With Breath Awareness the breath is breathing you. With conscious Breathing you are breathing the breath.
There are countless conscious breathing exercises and techniques. For example there is a practice called “Square Breathing” or “Box Breathing” used by warriors, martial artists, Navy Seals and Special Forces personnel.

To do Square Breathing: inhale for a count of 4; hold for a count of 4; exhale for a count of 4; hold for a count of 4.

Another example of Conscious breathing technique or exercise is called “Mother’s Breath”: inhale for a count of 7; hold for a count of 1; exhale for a count of 7; hold for a count of 1.

Conscious Breathing or “breath control” could mean practicing alternate nostril breathing, inhaling thru the nose and exhaling thru the mouth, doing pursed lip breathing, or employing breath sounds. It could mean combining breath and movement, or visualization or affirmations.

We move forward in our breathwork practice by going back and forth between these two aspects: active and passive: doing the breathing and letting the breath breathe itself.

An important part of Breathwork practice is integrating these two aspects into our daily lives. Become aware of your breathing at different times; tune into your breathing in different situations. Notice how you breathe during various interactions and activities.

Breathe consciously from time to time when you are walking: perhaps in rhythm to your footsteps, or when listening to music. Breathe consciously when you are taking in a sunset, when you are listening to someone. Learn to use conscious breathing to relax yourself, to energize yourself; to prepare for things and to recover from them.

We go thru life in a similar way: sometimes with paddle our boat, and other times we let the river take us. We sometimes take charge and we sometimes get out of the way. Sometimes we control, and sometimes we surrender. We live our life, and we let life live us.

When we practice an active conscious breathing technique, it’s a good idea to practice Meditative Awareness before and after the active exercise or technique. Track the changes in your mind and body, in your energy. Keep a journal. Share your notes and experience with other Breathworkers.

In the Inner Circle Members Area, there are a number of recordings and transcripts of Guided Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing sessions. I invite you to become a Breath Mastery Inner Circle member.

Right now, you can become a Lifetime Member for less than the cost of a single year membership! This offer will not last long, so I suggest you take advantage of the opportunity while you can!

All the information is here: http://www.breathmastery.com/breathmastery-inner-circle-membership/

Next month, we will explore the two core techniques or exercises used in Transformational Breathwork or Spiritual Breathing Practice. Until then, good luck in your practice and many blessings on your path!

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For more information about Breathwork, please go to www.breathmastery.com.

Download your free copy of my book, "Shut Up And Breathe!" http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe

PS: If you are ready to get onto the Path of Breath Mastery right now, you can enroll in the 60-Day Online Course: "21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork." Visit: http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse

Or, join my Breath Mastery Inner Circle, and freely access almost 40 years of breath and breathing research, articles, essays, audio/video files, seminar transcripts, workshop handouts, and even complete training manuals! 

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