Relaxed Subtle Energy Breathing
Relaxation is not only a fundamental practice in Breathwork: it is a vital life skill!
In Breathwork and in life, the ability to relax and let go allows more love, peace and joy to flow through us and into our lives. When you relax, something opens. Open relaxation is an invitation for energy or spirit to naturally move, heal, uplift, and transform us.
It’s one thing to be able to relax when everything seems to be going your way, when the children are healthy and happy, when all the bills are paid and you have lots of money in the bank, when you’ve passed your final exams, when your head is clear and your belly is full, and when everything feels right with the world.
It’s quite another thing to be able to relax when the proverbial poop hits the fan! It’s quite another thing to be able to relax when someone is insulting you or criticizing you, when you are upset or in pain, when you are lost or confused, or when things don’t seem to be going your way. But it’s at these times that relaxation, letting go, can work real magic!
How deeply can you relax? How quickly can you relax? In the face of what situations or in the middle of what circumstances can you relax? When you become tense, or when you experience a shock or a pain, or when things don’t work out as you planned, how easily can you let go? How quickly and completely can you fall back into a state of ease?
Learning to relax and breathe at the same time is very important. If we struggle or use too much effort to breathe, we use up all the energy we get from the breathing, and there is no net gain. When we contract our muscles, we interfere in the circulation and absorption of subtle energy. Muscular effort eats up energy that could otherwise be used for healing or creative work.
Struggling is an unconscious habit for many people. We struggle to be born, we struggle to be understood, we struggle to be accepted and approved of. We struggle to find a partner, we struggle to pay the rent (or to make the payment on the new Porsche!), we struggle to get ahead, we struggle to overcome obstacles.
Very often (more often than you think) this struggling is totally unnecessary, and in fact it is very often the main obstacle to health, happiness, and success. Struggle is the opposite of relaxation, and yet many people actually struggle to relax! (In a world where people believe that war leads to peace, what else can we expect?)
And so today we want to focus on relaxed breathing. This is a key to bringing a new level of relaxation into our lives, our relationships, our work, and all our activities.
If you are contracting muscles or using force to breathe, you will need to rest and recover after the exercise. And so the idea is to relax while you are breathing. Today, make relaxation the central aspect and main focus of your Breathwork practice.
EXERCISE
It’s good idea to lean back in a chair to do this, and an even better idea to lay on the floor.
Start out by using a couple of big “coming home breaths.” Give yourself a couple of big luxurious sigh’s of relief. (Anyone hearing those delicious soothing breaths should be jealous of your pleasure in that moment!)
Release all your joints and muscles as you release each breath. Allow everything in you to become soft and open, free and loose…
Now begin to breathe in a connected rhythm… breathing continuously into a soft open relaxed body. Breathe in and out softly without any breaks or gaps or pauses between the inhale and the exhale, or between the exhale and the inhale.
Puddle out as you are breathing! Imagine your body like ice cream melting in the sun… Imagine your body turning into a puddle on the floor…
Let the breathing be very subtle yet very conscious and deliberate. Get the feeling of the breath turning like a wheel… smooth and steady… soft and gentle… free and easy…
As you are breathing in this circular connected way (thru the mouth or nose is ok), scan through your body looking for places to soften and loosen… Inviting small muscles, large muscles, and all your joints to release and let go… again and again, each time as if it’s the first time. (No matter how relaxed you are, you can always relax more!)
You want to relax so much that the spaces between your cells open up, and the energy can get into all the cracks and crevices of your being. You want to relax so much that you can feel the push and pull of energy streaming through your limbs with each breath.
Do this for ten minutes in the morning…ten minutes at night…and ten times during the day for two minutes, and you will fall into a place of peace that passes understanding!
Stretch and move before moving on to your day!