No matter who you are or what you are doing right now, you have something in common with me - you are breathing. Usually you don't think about it, that is until you feel out of breath.  But breathing, as natural as it may seem to be, is actually your first line of defense against disease.  Breathing is your gateway to vital life energy, your superpowers, your sexual energy and your ability to heal yourself.

Throughout history across cultures, religious and spiritual tenets, breath has been the giver and healer of life. We use mouth to mouth to revive a non breathing person.  Tantric practices are first and lastly about controlling breath. Martial artists will tell you that the breath is their connection between the mind, the body and chi, qi, the life force. Yet when you think of it where and how were you taught to breathe? 

I wasn't until I was well into my 20's and studying tai chi.  Later when studying for my black belt in karate I became intimately connected with the power of intentional breathing. Here are some exercises to bring you into consciousness about your own breathing.  I invite you to explore your breath as a way of connecting with the world at large as every being on this planet is breathing with you.

In a relaxed sitting position, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands resting in your lap, take a deep breath in through your nose. Inhale slowly and consistently over a period of eight seconds. As you inhale, fill your abdomen.    Fill your lungs,  only your upper torso, first then bring your breath down to your belly and fill it with your breath. 

After an 8 second inhalation, slowly release your breath through a small to medium opening in your mouth taking 16 seconds to slowly and consistently release the breath. Let the breath move out of you in an even pace. Contract your abdomen while releasing by pulling your navel into your back as you breath out. Follow this process three times.

This is your first cleansing breath.  As you gain awareness and ability, increase your intake by a second or two, from 8 seconds to 9 or 10, 10 seconds to 11 or 12. The breathing out time is double the intake so if you are breathing in for 12 seconds you are breathing out for 24.  You can also increase the repitions from 3 to 6 to 9 to 12.  Aim for increases in increments of 3. This technique will calm and center you, clear your lungs of immediate distress and allow for a flow of blocked feeling or energies so that you can move from a place of low energy to even or high energy and make better choices.

Adding sound to breathing creates tremendous power.  Toning is a form of sound breathwork that I use daily.  While driving to and from the office I have been known to make some of the oddest sounds ever heard.  It is a great clearing process. Here's how.

Inhale fully through your nose expanding both upper chest and lungs complete to your lower abdomen.  Once you have full breath your abdomen should be filled, breathe out through your nose in a quick breath release. This feels like you are pushing all the air out in a single quick huff. Do this a few times before you begin to tone.  This is priming your body for the toning.

For the first tone, simply open your mouth to a comfortable range.  This means it is not a wide open mouth but a speaking mouth, as if you were about to say something.  Rather than form a word, make an AH sound.  Use a vocal range that is normal and easy for you to hold.  Hold the note or sound as long as you can, slowly and consistently releasing the breath. 

Become aware of where your focus is as you release the breath.  Releasing breath does not happen at the mouth or throat or even the lungs alone.  It is a whole body process that most of us have no conscious awareness of because we have not been taught about it. As you continue to release breath you will come to a point where in order to keep a sound you must force the breath up from your lower abdomen up through your lungs out of your mouth. Your voice will crack and make some silly sounds - just keep pushing until you have no sound left.

Do this process three times.  At this point your emotional state will be different than when you began.  You can continue to tone if you feel it is needed. When I am stressed or tense or anxious and need to become focused I use this breathing technique.  Sometimes I have to do it two or three dozen times investing 1/2 hour or more. I make the time, I take the action.  It releases the energy behind the stresses and allows you to gain perspective.

One of the most powerful breaths you can gift to yourself is the breath of song.  Controlling your vocal cords to create specific pitch, tone, tempo and sound requires cooperation from many parts of your body and all of your minds, conscious, unconscious and superconscious.  It creates a wholeness and a harmony between your mind, body and spirit.

It doesn't matter the song, though one of my favorites is Jiminey Cricket's When You Wish Upon A Star.  Just sing a full song, from beginning to end, one that has some melody and note changes and that engages your senses. 

Experimenting with breath and sounds is a fun way to help clear and cleanse your body.  Using the slow and consistent release pattern noted above, go back to making a single note on the release. This time, though, play with your mouth positions.  Open wide, make O's with your mouth, open and close, smile while releasing. Keep twisting your mouth and face ala Jim Carey.  It may seem silly but you are releasing emotional toxins every time you do this.

Breath, water, good earth - these are the basics that our bodies require to survive.  Emotional choice, free will, the ability to do well and become more, these are the basics that our minds need to thrive.  Your spirit is divine. It is part of the first breath of creation and it is meant to thrive.  When you call your body and your mind together through your breath your spirit rejoices.

I invite you to slow your breath down to the pace of life, evolve into a consciously breathing being, and allow your body to heal and be whole. 

I hope this guide encourages you to read more about breathworks and how you can use it to improve the quality of your life and the lives of your loved ones. In light, may you find peace and thrive in your own life.