About Body, Breath & Being
Body, Breath & Being is benefitting me greatly, certainly bringing peace into my own heart, into my interactions in the workplace and into my relationships. — J.B., school administratorBody, Breath & Being is a body-based process which uses the breath to help heal the mind-body-spirit split. Breathing is the key. When you breathe fully, you use every muscle in your body, providing the ultimate exercise. You also connect directly with your autonomic nervous system, which controls tension and habit-patterns not accessible to your conscious mind.
What I like about this work is it carries it over throughout the day any time you want to tune into it. It's been tremendously supportive and helpful in my daily life. — D.A., author
I've never felt so really totally relaxed. And I've never felt so whole — and so in my body. — JWS, diversity counselor
Body, Breath & Being gives you an experience of what it is like to get out of your own way, breathe fully and freely and be available in every moment. And it gives you the information and training you need to build a practice on your own. You can draw on the simple process of allowing yourself to breathe freely to let go of worry and tension at any time.
Body, Breath & Being consists of five steps:
Rediscover Your Body
Awareness without judgment is the first step to change. We begin with simple, subtle movements designed to increase flexibility and awareness of how your body works. You learn to stop holding yourself back physically. You experience profound changes in the way you move, as well as the way you feel about yourself. As you come to accept and enjoy your body as it is, you become more comfortable with yourself.
Expand Your Breathing
In a safe, supportive environment, without forcing or trying, you learn to let go of muscular blockages and patterns of control and gently allow your breathing to deepen and grow — from survival breathing to full-body breathing. In the process, you are regaining a basic, natural skill that was lost many years ago. As your breathing increases, so does your energy and sense of aliveness. As you feel the breath fill you, empty out, and fill you again, you gain a sense of safety and support. You realize you can just float on the breath whenever you want to. You move from "doing" or "trying" to a state of "being." For more information, please see The Power of Breathing in Articles section.
Be Fully Present
As you follow the breath, your mind relaxes. What is tight and blocked lets go. Sensations and emotions arise and flow through. You go fully into your body — and through your body to a sense of connection with something larger. You experience just being — without worry or the need to perform for others — appreciating the joyful life energy that is constantly flowing through you. Barriers dissolve. You feel a oneness — with yourself, others and the whole world. Breathing can put you in touch with the underlying unity of all, helping you let go of the artificial separation we create through the intellect between ourselves and the rest of life. Rather than think or believe in a certain way, you can actually experience the oneness. See quotes by Martin Buber in the Inspiration section.
Let Your Emotions Flow Through You
For some people, at some times, simply lying there breathing can bring up deep emotions from the past. While this can be disconcerting, it can also be healing. We can simply be with and witness these emotions, or express them — letting them flow easily through our bodies like waves which crest and subside. Surprisingly, they begin to lose their hold on us. We begin to experience them as Trumpa Rimpoche suggested — as energy — accompanied by the story of what happened. As you experience and accept the full range of your feelings, you expand your ability to love yourself and others. See quotes by Rumi, Gendlin and Cornell in the Inspiration section.
Live With Embodied Awareness
Once you experience the comfort, peace, joy and excitement of breathing fully, something in you wants the experience again and again. Body, Breath & Being gives you the tools you need to bring the process into your daily life, whenever you need it. You can establish a practice, taking a few minutes — or longer — several times a week. See Real Life Breathing and Take a Breathing Break in the Articles section. The level of change and growth resulting from this simple process can be truly amazing.
Body, Breath & Being can help you:
• Let go of the worry and tension that hold you back
• Expand your energy and aliveness
• Regain your natural expressiveness and joy
• Develop a fuller, more resonant voice
• Improve speaking, singing, athletics and all types of performance
• Reach out to others without self-consciousness
• Increase your capacity for pleasure; enhance your sexuality
• Experience the power of "now"
Body, Breath & Being is offered in Workshops and Individual Sessions. There is also a Training Program.
For more information on the theory behind Body, Breath & Being please see the Articles section.
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