I have been a ‘missionary for the breath’ since I resuscitated my first patient while training as an X-Ray Technician at Boston City Hospital in 1970. I went on to certify over 5000 CPR Technicians and Instructor Trainers in a half dozen states across the US, for the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
I practiced breath holding and taught breath control as a Medical Deep Sea Diver and an Underwater Rescue Specialist for the US Navy. In 1976, I was trained as a Rebirther and began teaching Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing for “Stress and Coping” at the University of Massachusetts. The first workshop was for Red Cross Disaster Relief Volunteers.
I went on to design and complete a master’s degree program in the Healing Arts at Lesley University called “The Breath as a Tool for Health, Growth and Change.” To date, I have trained more than 250,000 people in 67 countries, and have certified over 2000 Breathwork Teachers, Coaches, Practitioners and Facilitators.
In the early days, Breathwork was considered a fringe ‘new age’ fad and it was frowned upon by mainstream medical doctors and academics. But today it has become the most popular personal Growth and Spiritual Development method on the planet. And it has been voted the leading trend in wellness globally for four years.
Breathwork naturally triggers such deep and profound transformation, that many students and practitioners tend to overthink it and they can make it unnecessarily complicated. That’s why mastering the basics or the fundamentals and returning to them again and again, is the best approach.
The continuous practice of an active inhale and a reflexive exhale awakens natural energy, and that energy awakens thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotion stored in the body and trapped in the nervous system.
Most beginners get distracted by the feelings and sensations and they forget to relax and to keep the breath moving! Recently, I have been teaching students and practitioners to simplify the process in this way:
Lie down on a futon or yoga mat. You don’t want a hard floor, but you also don’t want an overly soft mattress. Notice all the places where your body contacts the floor or the mat. For example, bring awareness to the back of your head, your heels, elbows, butt, upper back… Consciously give your weight to gravity.
Turn your attention inward and scan your body. Look for any places that are tense or where you are holding and begin using sighs of relief to trigger more relaxation. Relax your jaw, relax your forehead, relax around your eyes, relax your neck, relax your shoulders, relax your belly and hips and limbs.
Gradually move into a gentle continuous breathing rhythm. Inhales are active and exhales are passive. Focus your attention on opening and expanding with each inhale and relaxing and letting go with each exhale. Put a beautiful quality into each breath and put a smooth flowing quality into the breathing rhythm.
Manage your focus. Imagine enjoying your favorite fragrance as you inhale. Imagine the most beautiful place, or person, or the most beautiful feeling as you breathe. Notice when your attention goes to something other than breathing and when it does, simply bring your attention back to the breath.
Give your breathing rhythm a smooth flowing quality: a quality that is both strengthening and soothing, both energizing and relaxing. Soften the curve between the inhale and exhale, and the connection between the exhale and the inhale.
It’s natural and normal for thoughts, feelings, sensations, and emotions to come up. Be aware of these things, but don’t focus on them. Meet and greet whatever arises in consciousness with the breath. And focus on giving each breath and the breathing rhythm a beautiful quality.
You want to add a little extra stretch or expansion to each inhale. It doesn’t have to be big or a lot… Just pull the inhale a little bit past the point where it wants to turn it around, and then let go and relax with the exhale.
That little extra stretch, that little extra expansion is enough to invite and awaken the energy. Create a little space between your teeth and use the yawning reflex to soften and open your throat. Then consciously breathe thru that space between your teeth and your soft open throat.
If you only remember one thing, let it be this: just keep the breath moving! As long as your breath is flowing, the energy will keep flowing, and all the thoughts and feelings and sensations will come and go. Remember that if anything uncomfortable comes up, it means that it is leaving you. So help it leave by pulling in and letting go, by expanding and relaxing. Keep the breath moving. Relax whatever you can and be patient with everything else.
Healing and transforming yourself with Breathwork is not difficult or complicated. Everything happens perfectly by itself. If you tend to the breath, the breath will take care of everything else! At some point, you will reach a peak, and everything will subside. As it does, let your breath come and go as it wants, and just feel and be!
Good luck in your practice, and many blessings on your path!
