'There is nothing else but the breath...'

By Manjit Ubhi on Oct 3, 08 01:02 PM

We in the so called civilised societies spend an inordinate amount of time, energy and worry over the external, physical, material aspects of our lives; the right car, the right house, the right look, the tightest butt, the most pert breasts etc etc so much so that children as young as five and six years old are preoccupied with their looks and when little girls were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up a worrying number said 'glamour model'

In this relentless search we loose sight of the greatest obvious, the very core of our existence - the breath. It is apparent when we are born, everyone in the birthing room holds their breath until the newborn gasps and takes in the very first breath and rightly so at the point of death everyone holds their breath again as the dying person takes their last breath. So how come such a loyal companion, so core to our life could be so taken for granted?

Chris Mooney Shihan, 6th Dan Aikido instructor and Body Oriented Coach, believes that we learn bad breathing habits as a result of holding the breath or shallow breathing when faced with frightening or fearful events often in early life.

'Its important to remember that in life there is a natural process, we take in, receive and absorb the 'world', oxygen, energy, ki, chi, prana whatever you want to call it and then we let go, release, empty the body; this perpetual in and out is so necessary to our mind body experience.'

Chris helps people to understand the nature of how the 'fight or flight' response can be switched on and does not reset itself unless we do so consciously.

'Constricted breathing and shallow breath can lead to all manner of physical and emotional issues - we feel less, use less of our gut feelings, become anxious, become listless, the cells in the body do not receive fresh energised air and therefore cannot operate at their fullest potential and lead to a lack of energy and life force. Your whole body needs this life force if not the whole organism is not working, it is disconnected and fragmented'

It's a bit like not putting petrol in your car and then wondering why it wasn't moving!

Steps to Breath Respect:

Chris Mooney states that there is no 'right way to breathe' we breathe differently in different circumstances; if we are running, sitting or laughing but one thing is certain 'most of us breathe from the chest rather than from the belly, just look at a child and how they breathe or even a dog their both breathe naturally from the belly'.

Firstly set just a few minutes to yourself, without distractions and lower or close your eyes and just observe your breath, in your minds eye see the air going in through your nostril and then out, don't force it... just observe it.
'Creating this sense of being 'present' and in the body helps us to connect to our deepest nature as most of the time we are fragmented and absent from our selves.'

We are in the office but our mind is at home, going over the argument we had with the partner; we are at home but our mind is on that deadline at work.

Sitting and being with our breath creates that being in the here and now - the traditional cultures call the past and present an 'illusion' and that the only thing that really exists is the present ...right now me writing this and now you reading it.

So be here fully - take in the world and then fully let it go and keep going.

Next practice breathing out and empty your breath from your guts and then fill from the guts too.

To use breath to reduce anxiety and stress:
Breathe in to the count of four beats, hold for four beats then breathe out for four beats and continue for at least five minutes

Practice makes perfect and builds character:
It is important to practice every single day; we have routine for our physical care, so we wouldn't dream of leaving the house in the morning without cleaning our teeth or washing!

Chris advises sitting for five minutes to begin with simply observing the breath and then breathing in and out from the belly; when thoughts pop into your mind, simply become aware of this and bring your attention back to your breath and keep bringing the mind back to the breath ... it really is the only constant in your life so make friends with it!

Chris Mooney Shihan, 6th Dan Aikido Teacher and Body Oriented Coach can be contacted at: mrcmooney@gogglemail.com