The Gift of Breath

Have you ever been unable to breathe? We know that we might hold our breath when excited or fearful, but if we do not take breaths in and out properly

The Gift of Breath

Have you ever been unable to breathe?

I don’t mean feeling suffocated or stifled, I mean not being able to take in air.

How scary is that?

That is what happened with my mother recently, and it was certainly frightening for me, but how scary must it have been for her..?

We take breathing for granted. Whilst it is of course essential to life, from my years of working with clients, I have been taken aback by how many people do not breathe properly. From my own experience I can safely say more people breathe inefficiently than breathe well.

We know that we might hold our breath when excited or fearful, but if we do not take breaths in and out properly in the first place, the toxins are not removed properly from our cells, and we deny oxygen to the brain to think clearly. In fact a percentage of breath stays in the bottom of our lungs, stagnant and stale.

And aside from keeping us alive our breath is an expression of ourselves. A form of creative expression. A passageway for transformation.

In many ancient traditions, such as Egyptian, Hebrew and Shamanic the breath has been associated with the soul and has been used as a means of contacting ancient realms.

During childbirth and in certain yogic techniques research has shown how changes in the rate and depth of breathing produce changes in the quantity and kind of peptides or opiates (the body’s natural endorphins, ie painkillers that are released from the brain stem). And there are numerous different conscious and connected breath techniques that all involve awareness, attention and intention, which is also part of the whole process of somatic awareness.

This is why Breath is one of the fundamental pillars that we look at in Niio Dance.

But this is a huge subject that I am merely referring to in this little blog.

When we can take a pause to notice our breath and how it moves within us, it is the one of the first steps to becoming more somatically aware.

It is also one of the first practices in meditation – Vipassana, Transcendental, Pranayama…

During this busy time of year, we certainly need to take a pause, and take a breath or two..

If you would like to learn more about Somatics and somatic awareness then you can download the E-Book Our Bodies Can Think