BREATHING
—made easier, as it becomes your go-to mindful practice!
with Marcia Singer, MSW, CHt
Everyone wants to “breathe easy,” as the old saying goes. Images of being carefree and relaxed, happy and ready for action, come into play. The irony is that we all could breathe easier if we breathed more often and more consciously. Correct breathing is full, deep and effortless. It marks the in-flowing or the Life Force Energy into the being of someone who wants to be here on the planet, rather than someone whose thoughts and attitudes are out of sync with the moment.
How do we learn to breathe easier? Notice your breathing: Are you taking in oxygen/prana fully? Is your breath shallow? Note that when you are deep in thought, you are apt to be breathing shallowly. This is also true any time your posture is poor, particularly slumped in a chair. So, practice sitting, walking, standing comfortably erect. Imagine yourself to be royally poised, and easily in command of your life.
Whenever you are anxious or worried, you must develop the discipline and presence to “stand outside” yourself and observe your “drama,” and breathe. It will relax and nourish you down to a cellular level. It will actually enable you to maximize your resources for extricating yourself from problems. Breathing consciously can help you redefine your situation and feel fine again.
You’ve heard the expression, “the breath of life.” It’s literally factual. Without sufficient air/oxygen and the life force it represents, you cannot maintain your physical life form. Diminishing your breath diminishes your life force. Develop an awareness of your process of breathing. Then breathe fully.
Breathing Exercise:
Imagine yourself holding your favorite fragrant flower and smell it. Notice that air comes in higher than usual, as if you are breathing in the top part of your nose, almost into your head. Smelling the flower actually enables you to bypass the septum or “dividing wall” in the center of the nose. The flower image helps to get past the built-in problem many have towards getting sufficient oxygen, which in turn affects he running of our entire system.
Seed Thoughts:
Once you become a good breather, you can ad to your repertoire “seed thoughts” of a positive nature to further enable you to enjoy good health, and to offer your gifts to the world. Here are some examples — or make up your own.
Breathe In: Take in all that you need. Say to yourself, “I Am all that I need.” (Pause at the top of the breath.) Breathe Out: Let go of what you don’t need. Say, “I give it all away. I have nothing to lose.
Breathe In: Fill yourself with your favorite color, or the one you need momentarily to help heal whatever ails you. You can also ‘spot’ or ‘zone-in’ on any area of your body or mind. (Pause at the top of the breath and feel the color do its magic.) Breathe Out: Release all un-needed colors or darkened shades you’ve held or carried, allowing your body to feel at ease.
Breathe In: Say to yourself, “I Am loved.” (Pause, hold the thought.) Breathe Out: “I Am love.” Pour love into the world. You may direct this love to individuals, and heal relationships in this manner.
Breathe In: Breathe in the sun and all its warmth and radiance — or imagine doing so. (Pause, feel it permeate you, flowing into every cell of your body.) Breathe Out: Radiate! Be aglow!
Breathe In: Breathe in healing energy. (Pause, know that the energy is going to all the right places.) Breathe Out: Say to yourself, “I am healed.” (If you are not ready for a total healing, say, “I am healing.)
Breathe Easy. And breathe deep! Shine deLight.
This article appeared in Meditation Magazine in the late 1980s. It was later shared with the American Board of Hypnotherapy (ABH) JOURNAL, May 1991 (“Breathing Easier.”) Marcia Singer has been an facilitator of mindfulness meditation/MBSR for four decades, incorporating it into all other healing modalities she employs through her Love Arts Foundation services, now from Santa Rosa CA.
