Be hands on when it comes to your breath
Many years ago I was introduced to the concept of rebirthing. This technique involved visiting my coach once a month, lying on the floor of his walk up apartment on the Upper West Side on a mat and breathing deeply in and out.
It was painful. My lungs burned, and I felt dizzy. Taking a simple breath was torture. I was stressed, I was unhappy, I was looking for change and therapy and talking wasn't cutting it anymore. The truth be told, I needed to remind my self how to breathe.
I have always been a shallow breather. I willingly give my breath away and push myself, the desire to DO rather than BE a key driver. My solar plexus running my show and my show was 24/7 on.
At this time, yoga wasn't a thing, and the only time I would breathe in that deeply was during a work out or a run. I always felt better after exercising but being out of breath was never my goal, fitness was.
Breathe in and out
Today not knowing that inhaling and exhaling is a necessary daily function would be like not knowing what a meme was. But is that what everyone is talking about, just plain old breathing. How hard could it be?
Breath of Life
‘Pranayama’ in Sanskrit – translates to ‘life force energy. This is breath-work on steroids, the kind that involves not only the body but the mind. This is breath to relax, to detox, to purify and to ground. This is primal. If you do yoga, inevitably you will be doing these kinds of breath exercises. If you do yoga, well then, you probably know all of this already and more. But if you don't, then keep reading. Okay, keep reading even if you do yoga. Anyone who breathes needs to know this information.
Breath to Anchor & Manifest
Every day you can have moments of healing with breath that don't require sitting in lotus pose, wearing your lulu-lemon leggings or going to a class.
Intentional breathing is your birth right. All you have to do is take the time to focus on what you desire:
- Letting go
- More focus
- Self acceptance
- Gratitude
There are a million reasons to breathe intentionally and when you add your "request" the universe will reward you. The Divine loves the breathers.
Aromatherapy & Your Breath
We add vitamins, flavor and color to water so that you we will drink more. But just like with water, you don't want to add anything artificial or bad for you.
Aromatherapy is the perfect breath partner: add scent to your breath and feel what you want to feel.
What scent can you add that will not only smell great but shift, lift & transform you? Lavender, Lemon, Patchouli, Ylang Ylang, Ginger. There are hundreds of choices.
It's got to do with your limbic system, the part of your brain that regulates mood, emotion and scent. Smell and emotion are stored as one memory which is why your response to apple pie is to think of your grandmother.
"Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory. The olfactory signals very quickly get to the limbic system" says Venkatesh Murthy, Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard.
There are hundreds of oils you can choose, blends of oils too. Each scent will take you somewhere, a journey of the senses, and if you add your affirmation to your breath, well then, you may have hit the holy grail: The ability to use your breath to heal yourself.
Add Color
When we breathe in a color we are actually changing the frequency of the breath. When we do breath work at the store we remind our guests to breathe in the color of the chakra: red for your root, orange for your sacral, etc. This simple and powerful visualization is like adding GPS to your breath. You can target where it goes and you can imagine it like psychedelic clouds swirling in and around your aura field.
Baby Steps
Ever seen a baby breathe? How their chest goes up and down? That's what breath work is about. Getting you back to your most innocent breath. The one that has only one agenda. To give you life.
