Breathe Deep

Breath connects us to ourselves, our body, our rhythms of energy and rest. Breath can give us calming force or energize us to act.

Breath connects us to others and is a powerful tool when used properly to co-regulate and help others come to peace.

Most importantly, breathwork connects us to the Creator, He breathed life into dust and created mankind.

I know how it feels to feel like I can barely breathe. I know you do too. I wrote this piece a few years ago, trying to find space to breathe, space to heal, Sink into it for a minute and then I am going to take you on a breathwork journey.

Psalm: In the Valley
The real world goes like this:
I live in a valley and this place in my mind can
often collect lint like a long unwashed navel.
Pieces blown by the wind that settle like tumbleweeds
Held against a fence,
Littered with paper and trash bits.
These are the worries, the concerns:
The broken oven
The car that bumped into a deer,
The 22 year old who is stuck like that deer in the headlights,
Not knowing where to turn, shifting, changing ideologies,
Routing the Love & Logic core I sought to instill
Highlighting all the mistakes I made as a mama
Holding on to… what?!
When your two children are gone.
Their spirits have long since fled
Now their bodies, their physical presence is gone
And she doesn’t call me back
And the roof needs to be replaced
My house’s foundations are sagging
There are days that I wish to pull covers over my head
In this valley.
And around this valley are strong mountains, assorted grayish ridges,
some blue majestic mountaintops
Beckoning me to explore the pockets of lush sustenance
Reminding me that the Creator will provide everything that I need
I look to the hills
This is where my help comes from
My help comes from you, Yahweh
The Maker of Heaven and earth
You are the Creator
You are responsible
You are my Father
You are responsible
You created my children
You are responsible
You alone are the Savior
I am not the Savior
Breathe in
Beauty
Breathe out
Fear
Breathe in
Hope
Breathe out
Doubt
You are responsible
The river flows
The seasons cycle
The rhythms of life go on and on
I can trust you
You see
You know
You are the mountain and You fill the valley with Your goodness.
The real world goes like this.

Take a deep breath.

We all know this is a good idea.

How To Take A Deep Breath

But do we really know how to breathe? I’ve spent 25+ years now asking people on the massage table to take a deep breath and most people breath in through their mouth, which is actually stress breathing. It turns on your amygdala and that fight or flight response. Here’s a brief tutorial on how to breathe. Too bad no one taught us this class in kindergarten.

Stress Breaker Breath

Now that you know how to breathe, (How did you make it this far in life without this skill, I wanna know.) I want to share a technique that I call the Stress Breaker Breath. I have used this many times to not only calm my central nervous system, but it helps me get back to the frontal lobe where I can respond logically or at least have the wherewithal to call a timeout on the field.

Energizer Breath

You can also harness your breath to energize your mind, body & spirit. Such a marvelous free tool we have been endowed with. I have been practicing breathwork four years now and I attribute it as one of the most powerful healing tools that I have used and let me tell you, I have tried everything that has presented itself as a possibility to freedom. I lived 45 years in abusive situations and was a confused, feisty wretch. Saddened and soddened by life in the valley, but day by day and breath by breath, I can testify, that if you do the work, it gets better.

The Spirit is in the Breath

Now, let’s take it deeper. I love diving into the spiritual component of breath and I wish I could share more, because it is ever evolving. If you take on breathwork as a spiritual, healing practice, you will be met in that place of surrender to Spirit. I hope this blesses and inspires you. (Get it? Inspires? I know, clever, right?)

Creating Your Breathwork Practice

As I alluded to above, this is a practice. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.” It’s painful to get out of your rut. your comfortable way of being, but it is the only way to heal. The only way to build new brain pathways. My friend who does a lot of twelve step work as she heals from her eating addiction told me “You can’t change a thought with another thought, or a feeling with another feeling. You need an action.” Breathwork is a practice that anyone can do, almost anywhere. It gets you connected to your body. It helps you be still and know that He is Yahweh. As Paul shared about discipline, there is a payout: “later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11