Our Daily Breath

Our Daily Breath
by Rev. Jerome Stefaniak and Stav Stefaniak

Would you like a little tool that will always help you to open up to more life and love? It's a tool we all have, all the time. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can be accessed in a quiet, serene setting as well as in the midst of a chaotic board meeting. What is this tool?

It's your breath.

"What!!?" you might say. "I breathe all the time! So what's the big thing?"

Well, have you ever noticed how your body reacts when you are afraid, upset, or in stress Try it right now. Imagine a tough, stressful situation. Even though you are not actually experiencing the situation, you may feel your body tighten up. Your chest constricts and your breathing gets shallower. You may find yourself sighing often, and possibly feeling pain in your rib cage.

Why do we do this? Because in a fearful situation we want to make ourselves a small, unnoticeable target. This may be handy in an actual life-or-death scenario, but it is tragic when applied daily to our lives.

You see, most of us live lives full of tensions, fears, and worries. Our minds are constantly churning out "what if" problems. We worry about the bills, dwell on old grudges, and try to close that deal. And in all that activity we never notice that our essence is slowly diminished - we slowly die. We get into the habit of taking short, shallow breaths, just enough air to keep our bodies alive, but not enough to actively feel our emotions and connect with our bodies and our life force.

By taking deep breaths, especially in stressful situations, we actually reconnect with our body, feel calmer, and allow time for clearer thinking.

So, sit back and for a moment do this experiment. Take ten deep and powerful breaths - the most powerful breaths you have ever taken - and pull the air into the bottom of your lungs. Flood your body with as much oxygen as you can stand. If you are like most people, you may feel a bit light-headed, dizzy, and possibly tingling sensation in your fingers and your toes. What you are feeling is your life energy trying to flow through you. Have you ever seen what happens when you plug a wire that is rated for 110 volts in a socket that carries 220 volts? The wire heats up and sparks.

So too with breathing. We spend much all out time breathing shallowly and so the life force in us shuts down to a dribble. We close up emotionally, our energy and creativity gets stifled, we feel empty and overall life feels blah. But turn up the power and we feel our bodies begin to react, just like that wire. We heat up, buzz, get dizzy and we tingle as Life tries once again to express through us.

Oxygen is what powers our bodies. We may eat food to sustain us, but it is oxygen that helps digest the food. It is through oxygen that the nutrients can be available to the body.

Physiologically, deep, connected breathing releases toxins, burns calories, relaxes the muscles, and releases stress and tension. Initially this experience may feel uncomfortable, but as you let yourself get used to taking in more air, your body gently begins to be able to handle more energy.

Breathing opens a person up more to feeling emotions. One of the reasons many of us breathe shallowly is because of pent-up, unexpressed feelings. The breathing exercises induce an almost trance-like state in which the thinking mind is suspended as the heart opens up. This allows a person to acknowledge and feel old hurts and the thoughts associated with them. And as these old hurts are processed, the pain behind them lessens. Once these wounds are cleared, forgiveness is not far behind.

So what are some ways that you can more easily open up to this powerful tool? Here are a few suggestions:

• Start every morning taking 25 deep, powerful, connected breaths and visualize taking in Universal Divine substance.

• Whenever you notice you are afraid or worrying, take ten deep, connected breaths. If your mind is still racing, take 10 - 15 more deep breaths. When you are concentrating on deep breathing, the mind disengages and you will naturally feel more peaceful.

• If you say or write affirmations, take a deep breath after each affirmation to more firmly cement the experience.

• When asked to do a favor, before answering, take three deep breaths and ask yourself, "Do I really want to do this?" And then trust whatever your heart is telling you. When you say "Yes" when you really do not want to do something, it breeds resentment and actually jeopardizes the relationship.

• For deeper emotional clearing, seek out a Breath Practitioner to coach you through the process.

Our breath is our physical connection to Life energy and God. In remembering to breathe we also remember our Spirit. So remember every day to give yourself your daily breath and live life to its fullest.

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