The Tao of Natural Breathing (6 page)

BOOK: The Tao of Natural Breathing
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The etymology of the verb
to heal
is related to the verb
to make whole.
To become whole, however, it is first necessary, as Gurdjieff says, to
know that I am not whole
—to sense my dis-ease, to actually see and come to terms with my imbalance, my fragmentation, my illusions, my contradictions, and my incomplete sensation of myself. Self-healing thus begins with awareness and acceptance of “what is,” of the living reality of my psychosomatic structure—the ways in which my thoughts, emotions, and sensations interact with my chemistry, physiology, and psychology. The awareness of “what is,” however, is not something I can bring about by force. It depends on discovering a dimension in myself of inner quiet, of inner clarity—a clear, uncolored lens through which I can observe myself without any judgment, criticism, or analysis. This inner clarity, which Gurdjieff calls “presence,” is both a precondition and a result of work with sensation and breath.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THE BREATH

One of the very first steps of this work, therefore—a step that on no account must be skipped—is to learn how to “follow,” to sense, the movements of our breath without interfering with them or trying to change them in any way. This work of following—which is left out of many teachings and therapies—provides the stable foundation of inner perception required for sensing the various mechanisms involved in breathing, as well as observing the physical, emotional, and mental forces acting on them. As Ilse Middendorf, one of the great pioneers in breath therapy, has pointed out, it is by perceiving our breath as it comes and goes that we discover an opening into our own unconscious life, and bring about a conscious expansion into the whole of ourselves.
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It is my experience that this expansion of awareness, this conscious “welcoming” of everything that we are, lies at the heart of deep, inner quiet and relaxation—an organic release from the stranglehold of our self-image, and from the excessive tension, stress, and negativity in our inner and outer lives. It is this welcoming that is the foundation of wholeness, of real health.

LISTENING TO THE BODY

Learning how to observe the mechanisms involved in breathing, as well as the various physical, emotional, and mental forces acting on them, depends in large part on learning how to sense ourselves, to listen to ourselves, to expand our attention to include the sensory impressions constantly arising in our organism. Though it sometimes happens spontaneously, listening to our bodies in the midst of action is relatively rare. It demands that we learn how to be attentive in two directions at once: outwardly toward the conditions and actions of our outer lives, and inwardly toward the thoughts, emotions, and sensations of our inner lives. For it is only when we can be aware of both our inner and outer worlds
at the same time,
that we can go beyond the beliefs of our self-image and experience the real forces at work in us.

Learning how to “listen” to the continual flow of information that our body gives us is not easy. It demands that we live not in our dreams and imagination, but rather in the reality of the present moment. As psychoanalyst Rollo May points out, “In our society it often requires considerable effort to listen to the body—an effort of sustained ‘openness’ to whatever cues may be coming from one’s body.” May was confronted with the necessity of listening to his own body when, in the 1940s, he discovered that he had tuberculosis. At the time, “the only cure was bed rest and carefully graduated exercise … I found that listening to my body was of critical importance in my cure. When I could be sensitive to my body, ‘hear’ that I was fatigued and needed to rest more, or sense that my body was strong enough for me to increase my exercise, I got better. And when I found awareness of my body blocked off … I got worse.”
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SELF-SENSING—THE BEGINNING OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND SELF-TRANSFORMATION

Self-sensing brings us a more genuine relationship with ourselves, and with our own real needs, since it reveals how we are actually responding to the inner and outer circumstances of our lives. It also has a direct impact on our nervous system, helping to bring about the changes necessary for harmonious functioning and development. In understanding how these changes take place, it is important to realize that the human brain is composed of some 100 billion neurons, each of which “touches” approximately 10,000 other neurons. The main function of these neurons is to connect distant parts of the organism with one other, so that the organism can function as an integrated whole in carrying out its actions. The majority of these neurons are associated, directly or indirectly, with some kind of motion. And this motion depends on information, on sensory feedback, from both inside and outside of the organism. From the perspective of science, then, the main function of the brain is the correlation of our actions with the sensory data upon which these actions depend.

As we begin to sense ourselves more completely, we will experience firsthand how the correlation between our actions and our senses enters into almost every aspect of our lives. We will see, for example, how the motor cortex—the part of the brain that controls our voluntary muscular system and is thus involved in every intentional movement we make—depends on the sensory cortex to provide continuing feedback for its operations. The sensory cortex gets its information not only from the external senses, such as sight, smell, hearing, and touch, but also from our various internal senses. Our kinesthetic sensations, for example, come from stretch receptors in the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments, and our organic sensations come from the various nerve receptors in our organs, tissues, and skin. It is only when the motor cortex has the most complete, accurate information available to it from the sensory cortex that it can execute our intentions in the most efficient, balanced, and healthy way possible. Self-sensing helps provide this information.

Through self-sensing we not only learn about the subtle, constantly changing needs of our bodies, but we also begin to learn about the impact of our emotions on our breath, and thus on our health and well-being. By “listening” to the sensation of our body, especially our breathing, not only when we are in quiet circumstances but also when we are in the middle of difficult situations in our lives, we experience connections between parts of ourselves that ordinarily escape our attention. By sensing the way our breathing changes in relation to changing circumstances, as well as by sensing the attitudes, tensions, postures, and emotions that arise in these same conditions, we begin to learn, with exacting detail, about the intimate relationship of our breath to our overall sense of ourselves. This new, direct knowledge of ourselves in action gives our brain and nervous system the knowledge and perspective it needs to help free us from our habitual psychophysical patterns of action and reaction. Self-sensing helps create new connections between existing neurons in the brain and nervous system. These new connections help increase our overall awareness, and promote greater sensitivity and flexibility in our perception and behavior.

THE THREE KINDS OF BREATH

As we begin this work of self-sensing, we may observe three kinds of breath in our life. First, and most common, is the
balanced breath,
which more or less balances inhalation and exhalation, yang and yin, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. This breath, however shallow or full, reflects the automatic, mostly unconscious equilibrium of our lives. Second, is the
cleansing breath,
which emphasizes exhalation over inhalation. This breath sometimes takes place spontaneously as a sigh or moan when we are physically or emotionally overloaded with toxins or tensions. The long exhalation helps us to relax and to rid the body of these toxins, especially carbon dioxide. Third, is the
energizing breath,
which emphasizes inhalation over exhalation. This breath sometimes takes place spontaneously as a yawn when we are tired or bored. The long, deep inhalation brings us more oxygen and thus more energy, and helps motivate us to take action.

THE QUALITY OF OUR BREATHING

The quality of our inhalation and exhalation reveals a great deal about our stance toward life. We may observe, for example, how the extent and comfort of our inhalation reflects our readiness and ability to embrace life at that moment, and how the extent and comfort of our exhalation reflects our readiness and ability to let go, to trust something other than the accouterments of our self-image. We may notice how during fear or other strong negative emotions we restrict the flow of breath by contracting various parts of our body in order to reduce the energy available for feeling, and how during more pleasant emotions we increase the flow and duration of breath to take in more energy and thus to feel more.

Hyperventilation and Anxiety

In sensing the “quality” of our breath, many of us may also notice that even at rest we breathe faster than the “average” rate of 12 to 14 times a minute (a rate which is already faster than it needs to be). In fact, many of us, without knowing it, habitually “hyperventilate”—that is, we take quick, shallow breaths from the top of our chest. These quick, shallow breaths sharply reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our blood. This reduced level of carbon dioxide causes the arteries, including the carotid artery going to the brain, to constrict, thus reducing the flow of blood throughout the body. When this occurs, no matter how much oxygen we may breathe into our lungs, our brain and body will experience a shortage of oxygen. The lack of oxygen switches on the sympathetic nervous system—our “fight or flight” reflex—which makes us tense, anxious, and irritable. It also reduces our ability to think clearly, and tends to put us at the mercy of obsessive thoughts and images. Some researchers believe that hyperventilation can actually magnify our psychological problems and conflicts, and that chronic hyperventilation is intimately bound up with our anxieties, apprehensions, and fears.
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The Emotional Topography of Our Breath

As our ability to sense ourselves grows, we will begin to receive many precise impressions of the interrelationships of our emotions and breath, and their impact on our overall sensation of ourselves. We may see, for example, how anger is associated with shallow inhalations, strong exhalations, and tension throughout the body—especially in the neck, jaw, chest, and hands. We may see how fear is associated with rapid, shallow, and irregular breaths, and the sensation of a tight knot in the lower abdomen. We may see how grief or sorrow is associated with a kind of spasmodic, sobbing, superficial breath, and a hollow, empty feeling in the belly. We may see how impatience is associated with short, jerky, uncoordinated breaths, and tension in the front of the chest, as though our hearts were leaping ahead of us. We may see how guilt or self-judgment is associated with a restricted, suffocating breath, and an overall sensation of being weighed down. And we may see how boredom is associated with a shallow, lifeless breath, and little sensation anywhere in ourselves. We may also notice how feelings such as love, compassion, kindness, and wonder are associated with deep, comfortable breathing, and an open, energized, receptive feeling throughout the entire body. Each of us, of course, will discover variations in his or her own physical and emotional topography.

“EVERY STATE OF MIND IS A STATE OF OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM”

Such observations are important not only from the standpoint of self-knowledge, but also from the standpoint of our health and well-being. Though many traditions and teachings besides Taoism speak of the intimate relationship of mind and body—the way in which our thoughts, emotions, and body influence one another—it is only recently in the West that science has begun to uncover the underlying chemistry of this relationship. At a lecture I attended in April 1995, at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Candace Pert, Ph.D., a worldrenown pioneer in the area of neuroscience, stated that the evidence now shows that “every state of mind is a state of our immune system.” She spoke dramatically about how “messenger molecules” called “neuropeptides” carry information from brain to body and body to brain to direct energy in the organism. She asserted that these neuropeptides, which include the chemicals known as endorphins, are the “biochemical correlates of emotions,” and can have a powerful influence on our health.
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When someone asked Pert how she would use this knowledge if she had to undergo serious surgery, she replied that she would spend time with the surgeon to understand the operation—to know which organs and procedures would be involved. She suggested that this understanding, combined with visualization of the healing process, could help release those neuropeptides necessary to promote healing.

Self-knowledge Can Improve Our Health

From both the Taoist and scientific perspectives, it is clear that in the right context self-knowledge can have a powerful and beneficial influence on our immune system. But to acquire this knowledge in a way that is useful to us, to gain a deep understanding of the various mental, emotional, and physical forces acting on our health and well-being, we need to learn how to sense our bodies—our muscles, organs, bones, tissues, and so on—more impartially. We need to learn how to take “sensory snapshots” of our organic functioning. As we do, we will begin to observe the various habits of our psychophysical structure, along with the physiological principles that give these habits their power to influence our health. We will begin to see the particular ways that we respond mentally and emotionally to the various stresses of our lives, to the threats and demands that we often unconsciously perceive in relation to new or changing circumstances. This is important, since it is now believed that stress-related disorders account—either directly or indirectly—for 50 to 80 percent of all illnesses. Such disorders include chronic colds, hypertension, heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, arthritis, insomnia, certain types of cancer, and many more.

BOOK: The Tao of Natural Breathing
7.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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