Just Breathe

"Our existence demands that we take another breathe until the body expires, in this we have discovered that our basic job with the Universe is always fulfilled when we just breathe and exist." - Sevan Bomar

A New Way to Breathe

Changing the way you breathe produces a perceptible change in conciousness. It's a physical

reality. So changing the way you breathe changes the way you feel. Most of us walk around in this

world trying to maintain control over our vessels, to the extent that we have reduced our breathing to a

level of just deep enough to keep us going. It's not a individual choice- its cultural trait of our current

human existence. Changing the way you breathe will sometimes even produce an extreme change of

consciousness, so it pays to discover which kinds of breathing will produce which kinds of changes in

consciousness. Some breathing techniques will calm you down; others will energize you.

Four Conscious Breath

Following are four kinds of breath that can provide body- and consciousness- altering experiences on

a regular basis. Practice each of the following breaths for five to ten minutes at a time, with the

exception of the Breath of Fire, which you should practice only for a minute or two at a time,

keep in mind these general guidelines:

Keep your eyes open and focused gently at a point across the room so that you stay focus on your breathing and don't nod off or space out.
Set a timer so you don't have to keep track of time by your self the first few times to build the ritual.
When your time is up, take three deep breaths, and then just breathe normally.
Notice how you feel after each of the four conscious breaths
Breathe through your mouth while you are learning each breathe (except for the Breath of Fire which is always done through the nose). When you become familiar with the breaths, you can experiment with nose versus mouth breathing.

The Bottom Breath
(practice for five to ten minutes)

Bottom breathing is a gentle, easy way to calm you down and open up your senses. It's the ideal

breath to use when you want to move out of the busy or stressful state of doing

into the easy relaxed awareness of being.

Sit on the floor with you legs crossed and your spine straight. With your hands, pull the fleshy part of your buttocks aside so that you are sitting on your sit bones. (once you learn the breath you can do it in any position of course).
Place your hands on your belly. Relax your belly. Just let it go. Let it be round in your hands.
Begin by exhaling all the air out of your lungs.
Then, as you inhale, very gently push out on the anal sphincter. Imagine that your anus can "kiss" the floor (if you find it hard to focus on your anus, try focusing on your belly button- its doing the same thing).
On the exhale, don't do anything. Don't contract your anus; don't hold it; don't push. Don nothing. Just let go.
Repeat. On the inhale, push out with the anal sphincter; on the exhale, do nothing
Keep going.

Although it may seem a little odd, this is actually a very natural breath; it's just not one you usually do when your awake. This is how you breathe when sleeping deeply.

The Circular Breath

(practice for five to ten minutes)

The essence of this breath is breathing in a continuous flow, with no breath or pause between

the inhale and the exhale. The inhale flows effortlessly into the exhale, which flows seamlessly

into the next inhale. You can do this breath sitting, standing, or lying down.

Breathe gently through your mouth, keeping your jaw relaxed and your lips slightly parted.
Feel the back of your throat open and relax. Do not force or push the breath. The inhale will require a bit more effort than the exhale, which should just gently fall out.
Imagine your breath making a complete unbroken circle.

The Breath of Fire
(practice for no longer than one to two minutes)

This breath is a Kundalini yoga technique. It is a powerful energizing breath that gets that little

neurons in your brain humming as it clears your lungs and cleanses your blood. This rapid,

continuous breath is done entirely through the nose. It can be done in any position, but its best

learned sitting or standing up with a straight spine. The emphasis of this breath is on the exhale

and its great for building energy.

Exhale. As you exhale, push air out by rapidly pulling your navel to your spine.
To inhale, simply release your navel outward. The breath fills your lungs automatically.
Put your hand on your diaphragm to focus your attention there and to feel the power of this breath
Begin with one breath every two seconds; work up to one or two breaths a second.

The Heart Breath

(practice for five to ten minutes)

Yawn, Feel how the yawn opens the back of your throat and stretches out your whole mouth and face. That feeling of openness you want when you do this breathing technique.
Breathe. Let your mouth fall open slightly. Relax your jaw and face, open the back of your throat, and breath in through your mouth, gently but fully.
Exhale. Don't push the breath out; just let it fall out with a gentle little sight, ahh.
Take in as much air as you can, as effortlessly as you can, then let it go.
Keep Breathing.

Breathing consciously simply means being mindful, aware, and attentive to your breath, Remember we can only focus on one thing at a time. If we keep our mind full with out breathing, we don't have the space to think. It is mindfulness of Non- Action. A great Bodhisattva once said, " 'I will breathe in, conscious of my whole body; I will breathe out, conscious of my own body". Letting the mind cease from all activity reveals the inherent Buddha (fully enlightened one) -nature.

Wholeness and Balanced Vibrations Family