Breath is the Key to Life, Movement, and Rhythm

Breath is the key to life, movement, and rhythm.

"Imagine, if you will, a situation where all is in harmony, complete in its rhythm. ..emptying to fill, filling then emptying in an ongoing ever-flowing wholeness. Life-giving fluid enters the system, rich in nourishment, swirling, laden with life energy….A great whoosh connects what is outside, air of the world, with the inside of me…connects the inside of me with myself. Every cell receives its portion of food, healthy and at one with the environment…ready to pour out what is not needed, ready to release the waste, to open a space to make room to expand for new food. Emptying and filling, the circle is complete and the cycle continues. There is no goal to be reached and no targeted task. It is sufficient to BE, simple and whole, connected within, in unity with the universe.

You might ask, 'How can I be in this wondrous place of perfect unity? How can I partake of this wholeness?' Simply by participating in the primal pattern of BREATH."

Entry above taken directly from the book “Making Connections” by Peggy Hackney.

For more about the power of the breath, read the entry from the Nia headquarters website: Awareness of Breath: Tracking the Tide of Life

The Simple Act of Breathing

"...the simple act of breathing requires no special effort, and similarly no effort is required to become connected with spirit. The body is already an inspired organism, and every moment, from your first breath to your last, is an opportunity to breathe in life's joy and fullness. Inspiration not only includes both breath and spirit, then, but is actually the meeting point at which the two merge; and the unification that takes place in you takes place automatically, unconsciously, effortlessly and inevitably."

- Joseph Heller, founder of Hakomi Therapy

I love this quote on the power of the breath and the body as an "inspired organism." When I teach, I always remind my students to stay connected to their breath. I read somewhere in one of my Nia materials that "Our breath is the elixir of life, a healing tool.  It can give us a sensation of a more relaxed space within our body." For me, breathing not only helps me tap into a space of relaxation, it paves the way for deeper, more playful and creative movement. In consciously breathing through a movement, I spend less time in my head and more time sensing deep into my body and overall somatic experience. The more connected I am to my body, the more I engage in movement and experience greater pleasure and joy.

Try this, raise your elbow as if offering something to the space. First, do this movement without consciously focusing on your breath. Second, do it with your breath. Raise you elbow on the inhale and extend the elbow out on the exhale. Which one produced greater pleasure? Were you inspired to make the movement more creative? 

In line with the above, there was a great story on NPR yesterday, December 6th, about the power of the breath on our health and well-being.

Here is one quote from the article:

"As it turns out, deep breathing is not only relaxing, it's been scientifically proven to affect the heart, the brain, digestion, the immune system — and maybe even the expression of genes."

To read more, go to the NPR article: Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever