Sensing your feet touching the earth, look and stretch upward first with one hand and then the other to pick the imaginary cherries and then look and bend downward to put them in a bucket at your feet. Inhale through your nose as you stretch upward; exhale through your nose as you reach down to put the cherries away. Remember to close your fingers around the cherries when you are picking them and to open your fingers when you release the cherries into the bucket. Keep your hands relaxed so that you don’t crush the cherries.  And be sure to take your time finding a comfortable rhythm. Really sense, feel, and enjoy what’s happening in your entire body.

I’ve done this simple qigong practice over the years. It is a good practice to do when you feel lethargic and out of sorts, or when you’ve been sitting too long at your computer, or just sitting too long. If you do this simple practice with full attention, it will help open up the breathing spaces of your body and get you sensing and breathing again. It will get your energy moving and help you feel more alive and alert. It will help you become more present to yourself.

Copyright 2011 by Dennis Lewis 

Now comes a book, called “Earthing,” with a deep understanding of at least some of what is meant when we refer to the energy of the earth, along with simple tools that make it possible to practice grounding both inside and outside your home or office, when you are unable to stand or walk or move or lie directly on the earth with bare skin (which is paramount). Simply expressed, these tools can be described as extension cords to the energy of the earth.

Here’s what a renowned cardiologist has to say about Earthing: “I regard Earthing as the greatest health breakthrough in all my years in medical practice. Regular grounding (another name for Earthing) restores the body’s natural electrical state, calms the nervous system, reduces inflammation, and improves circulation. No pill on Earth can do what Mother Earth does!”–Stephen Sinatra, M.D.

Rather than go into more detail here, I recommend that you visit the website and download a free audio of the entire book.

To do so click on Earthing or on the image to the left, then click on Earthing Audio “Listen Now,” and then download the MP3 files. When you visit the website, be sure to read some of the amazing research on “Earthing” that has already been done and learn some of the many ways that earthing might be able to help you.

Visit Earthing today!

The Primal Scream

In a culture whose educational goals are directed toward the development of the mind or, more precisely, the technological use of the mind, this is not a surprising diagnosis. Suppression of feeling is obviously a price we pay for viewing rationality apart from the energies of the whole man. But Janov does not “console” himself with the rationalization that we live in an age of neurosis . . .” He suggests that “there is something beyond improved functioning in socially acceptable ways, something beyond symptomatic relief . . . there is a state of being quite different from that which we have conceived . . .”

Janov believes that neurosis begins when a child is not loved and accepted for what he is. Not being able to be himself, not being able to feel his own real needs without a painful sense of contradiction, he shuts himself off from his feelings and begins to “want” those things which he believes will bring his parents’ love. But the denied needs do not disappear. The pressure generated by their lack of fulfillment accumulates in his organism, upsetling its natural balance, and causing behavior which becomes increasingly “symbolic.” This symbolic behavior eventually shields the neurotic from his own inner pain, and supports him in his “hope” that his substitute wants and needs will somehow be satisfied. He does not realize that his struggle for satisfaction is essentially historical, that it derives its energy from the pains of the past. As a result, the neurotic’s life is full of the tensions that arise from his constantly defending himself against himself. As Janov points out, “people go crazy to keep from feeling their truth.”

Janov believes that the entire process of neurosis and its cure can be understood in relation to energy transformations. “We know by the law of conservation of energy that energy cannot be destroyed; it can only be transformed. I view the original Primal Feelings as essentially neuro-chemical energy which is transformed into kinetic or mechanical energy impelling constant physical motion or internal pressure. The aim of Primal Therapy is to change this transformed energy back into its original state, so that there will no longer be an inner force pushing the person toward compulsive action.”

How is this change accomplished? It is here that Janov makes his most radical break with traditional forms of therapy. He claims that it is only by a “forceful upheaval” of the entire defensive system that the neurotic can become real. For unless this system is completely destroyed it wiil continue to “grind up and absorb” whatever truth may reach it, whether through explanations, analysis, insights or any other means. An obvious truth, yet perhaps ineffectual in itself because it is the “unreal system” which hears it and pretends to agree. The neurotic, therefore, cannot cure himself.

According to Janov, since pain caused the neurotic split in the first place, it is only through intentionally experiencing this denied pain that the kinetic energy of neurosis can be changed back to its neuro-chemical form—thereby depriving the defensive system of its source of energy, and freeing a man from his slavery to the past. To facilitate this process Janov believes that the therapist must help the patient lose control, the defensive control which keeps the real self suppressed. The therapist attempts to keep the patient from dissipating his energy (draining off his pain) through “symbolic behavior.” In the midst of a buildup of internal pressure the patient is encouraged lo “sink into” any early situation that evokes strong feelings and to experience that situation in its entirety. If there is any resistance to this in the form of talking “about” the past, instead of living it, the patient is encouraged to call out to his mother or father (or others who might be important in this situation) as though he were speaking directly to them, and to try to express what he really feels.

Sometimes the therapist has to work directly with the patient’s breathing. “Because neurotic breathing is designed to clamp down against the pain, forcing the Primal patient to breathe deeply often helps lift the lid of repression. The result is the emission of explosive force, something which has been diffused throughout his body, in the form of high blood pressure, elevated temperature, shaky hands, or whatever . . .”

When the Primal Scream occurs, it “is at once a scream from the pain and a liberating event where the person’s defense system is dramatically opened up. It results from the pressure of holding ihe real self back, possibly for decades.” Janov makes it clear, however, that it is not the scream which is curative, but the pain the patient experiences as a result of being “wide open to his truth.”

By the end of Primal Therapy, which consists of an intensive three-week period, along with three months or more of group therapy, the patient has undergone many such experiences through which he is brought into contact with his own real feelings. The post-Primal patient, says Janov, is a “new kind of human being.” He is able to live fully in the present, without fear, without moods, without depressions, and without unnecessary tension.

Whether or not we accept this claim, Janov’s work with neurosis makes clearer the importance of the feelings for human growth to take place. “The activities which will make basic changes in individuals must flow from their feelings. The flow must occur from the inside out.” Clearly, this is an important idea for a culture which believes that meaningful human change can be manipulated from without, lacking the active participation of man’s own will. The latest experiments in altering behavior through the use of electrodes implanted in the brain represents this position in extreme. Janov recognizes that it is the whole of a man’s being which is at stake, not only his behavior. The neurotic must be willing to undergo a new dimension of pain in the movement from unreality to reality, with full acceptance of what he discovers in himself.

It is just here that Janov’s work with neurosis seems to be changing direction. In his latest book, The Anatomy of Menial Illness, he reports that many of his patients have relived their birth, that is, they have experienced “birth Primals.” Since all life processes follow natural rhythms, it is important, as Janov states, for a child to be born in his own rhythm. To have a difficult birth, to enter the world already out of rhythm with himself, establishes in the child unconscious attitudes towards life, a matrix of experience that reverberates through the child’s whole being.

Janov has equipped his office with various devices to simulate the birth process, thereby producing sensations which can reawaken the buried memory circuits that plague the neurotic. He also suggests the possibility of a “Primal Machine for refractory cases”; he has found that primals can be induced by means of a strobe light pulsating at specific frequencies.

Whatever the importance of Janov’s latest discoveries, the stress he places on them seems to diminish the call to wholeness that one feels in The Primal Scream. One cannot help but be moved by this call. But the acceptance of the whole of oneself is an enormous undertaking for any man, neurotic or normal. Surely all of us have a scream waiting beneath the facade of our “reality”—the universal scream of mortality and incomprehension, of which the sorrows of parental conditioning are but one expression. But whom can we trust to bring this scream forward?

I wrote this review of The Primal Scream with a lot of help from the Material for Thought writing team, back in the late 1970s or early 80s. Reading it again recently, it became clear to me that a lot of the material in this book is as relevant today as it was when it was first written.

To fully understand what this review meant to me, personally, it’s helpful to realize that, at least initially, I really didn’t want to write it. In looking for books to review for Material for Thought I had stumbled across the book in a bookstore, briefly paged through it, and decided it wasn’t worthy. I told no one.

Some weeks later, Lord John Pentland, who had been put in charge of the Gurdjieff Work in America by Gurdjieff himself shortly before his death, came to San Francisco, came into the writing team on our Sunday workday (it was his team), handed me The Primal Scream, and asked me to review it. I then told him I didn’t think it was a worthy book for us, but he insisted.

When I first began the review I had no idea what I was getting into. The way we worked on the team every Sunday was to work on writing the review and then read what we had written to the others on the team. There was usually a lot of feedback, not always easy to take but always given to one another in a respectful way, which generally helped each of us broaden our perspective on what we had written. When Lord Pentland came to town, we would each read our reviews out loud in his presence and he would make whatever comments he felt it necessary to make.

When I first read the review in Lord Pentland’s presence, he made it clear that I had to begin again. He said that I had not really faced my feelings in the review. And so it went, month after month. I would write and work with the team, he would come to town, I would read the review in his presence, and he would tell me that I hadn’t really faced my own feelings, and I would have to begin again. I felt like Milarepa (without the magical or spiritual powers) being told by Marpa to continually tear down, because of some imperfection in his work, the stone structure that Marpa had told him to build on a high rocky ridge. In my case, it had nothing to do with the writing itself, but rather with my inability to face my real feelings about this book and, more importantly, about myself. Each time Lord Pentland told me to begin again, he would give me a new thought or question to consider, which was an enormous help.

After about a year of beginning again and again, and actually beginning to learn to confront my real feelings, which was quite obviously no easy task for me at that time of my life, Lord Pentland came to San Francisco, listened to me read my review, and then remained silent for at least five minutes. Finally, he simply nodded his head yes and said, “Good. We’ll begin the next issue of Material for Thought with Dennis’ review.” Tears came into my eyes, as they do right now in recalling this moment, and I realized how important reading and reviewing this book was for me in relation to feeling my truth. How did Lord Pentland know? It doesn’t matter! He knew. He is no longer on this planet, but he was and still is my teacher.

Dennis Lewis

All the great mystical traditions speak of a miraculous silence, or emptiness, that lies at the heart of being, at the heart of the kaleidoscope of life. These traditions refer to this silence not as an absence but rather as a fullness that is beyond description, beyond the reach of human thought, a fullness that, miraculously, is the very substance of our universe.

Copyright 2007-2010 by Dennis Lewis

Dennis Lewis

Though many of us are familiar with the traditional ideas of energy transformation, especially with regard to chakras, meridians, channels, and energy centers, few of us consciously experience the subtleties of our energies in our daily lives. Typically, we notice the state of our energy only when we are bubbling over with it, when we are exhausted, when we are meditating, or when we are doing some kind of intense work with our bodies. The rest of the time, which is most of the time for most of us, we are oblivious to the amount or quality of the energy we have or to how it moves through our bodies. Consequently, it most often gets spent mechanically in relation to whatever attracts us, repulses us,  or occupies our attention at the moment.

For the most part, we become aware of our energy through the awareness of our sensations. By allowing our inner attention to embrace our body in the midst of whatever we are doing–by listening, as it were, to the sensations in our skin, muscles, viscera, and so on as we function in the world–we can get a direct taste of the quantity and quality of our energy.

Those of us who make this effort of attention, however, will undoubtedly notice huge gaps in our experience–parts of ourselves that we cannot sense at all. We will also see that the word “sensation” has many different meanings, depending on the strength and fluidity of our attention.

Those who continue this work with attention in a serious way will eventually be able to distinguish several different levels of sensation, from the fragmentary sensation of our muscular tensions and contractions; to the uniform “prickly” sensation of our skin; to the sensation of temperature and movement; to the living, breathing sensation of our own internal organs, fluids, and bones; to the deep all-encompassing sensation of the life force moving through us.

The awareness of our energy thus starts with an overall sensation of the body, in which we take note of the body’s various configurations, movements, tensions, contractions, and so on. We will observe how some sensations consume energy, while others bring energy. The sensation of unnecessary muscular contraction, for example, consumes a great deal of energy, while the sensation of dynamic relaxation, of alert openness, brings energy.

Ideally, the overall sensation of the body becomes the backdrop for everything else that we experience. But for this to occur takes time and understanding. It depends on the realization that the body is not simply a solid object with a well-defined boundary, but is also a dynamic field of forces that can relate us, through a kind of expansive resonance, to everything in and around us–in fact, some traditions tell us, to the entire cosmos.

From even the most materialistic viewpoint, there is no final separation between our body and its environment. Energies are exchanged and transformed through various physical, chemical, and psychological processes. These exchanges have to do with the food, air, and impressions we take in from our environment and the various actions we take upon this environment through breathing, perceiving, moving, speaking, excreting, and so on.

Subtle Energies
What’s more, there is a great deal of experiential evidence (which you can verify for yourself) that in addition to the obvious physical energies of the organism itself we also consist of subtle energies that are not bounded by our skin, but rather radiate through and around us in the form of what various traditions call “energy bodies” or our “atmosphere.” The body and its environment are thus bound up in an intimate dance in which neither partner can be isolated from the other. It is the energy of this dance, of the transformations that are constantly taking place, that gives us the sensation of materiality and substance.

While many of the energy transformations that take place as part of this dance are beyond our power to influence in any meaningful way, there are others that can be influenced through a revolutionary change in attitude, what is called in the Christian Tradition metanoia, the very way we look at ourselves and the world. But this influence does not take place through our ego or will but rather through consciousness itself.

When we truly see our ego, our self-image, for what it is–an illusory or incomplete conception of ourselves–the energies that were bound up with maintaining (and defending) it are freed up for real transformation. This transformation, which includes our seeing, hearing, smelling, sensing, feeling, and thinking, brings us an expansive sense of wholeness and unity in the midst of whatever we are doing, thinking, sensing, and feeling.

Starting the Work
In the beginning work to become aware of our energy, it is enough to become sensitive to the ways in which it manifests in our bodies. As we learn how to sense ourselves not only in quiet moments, but also in the crush of our daily activities, we will see that there is very little economy in our use of energy. We not only spend enormous amounts of energy presenting and defending our self-image to ourselves and others, but we also waste our energy in preconceptions, expectations, and compulsive thinking. We even lose energy fretting about events over which we have no control: for example, the weather, how other people drive, and so on. What’s more, as a result of our identification with and slavery to various restrictive thoughts, emotions, and sensations, as well as of faulty physical education and posture, we waste huge amounts of energy through unnecessary tension and lack of economy in many of our actions.

It is not enough, however, just to notice this waste. We must actively observe the way in which various parts of our body tense up in relation to various physical habits; thoughts and feelings of anger, fear, insecurity; changes in environment; and so on. Places to which we need to give special attention include the face, eyes, throat, hands, shoulders, abdomen, and pelvis. It takes energy to have a tense mouth or to hold our shoulders up or our stomach in. Yet that is what many of us do when we are angry, anxious, irritated, or fearful about something. It is no wonder that so many of us complain about not having enough energy to do the things we say we’d really like to do, or about being exhausted before we even get out of bed in the morning. Our bodies are living under constant, often unnecessary, tension in response to physical and psychological pressures from our inner and outer environments, and our energy is being consumed by this tension.

Through the work of self-sensing, however, it is possible to begin to notice the tension earlier and earlier as it develops. In fact, through self-sensing we can actually see the tension developing before our energy is consumed by it. In this moment of awareness, what is sometimes called presence, we may realize that although we may not be able to stop the tension that is occurring we are nevertheless free not to identify ourselves with it, as well as with the stories we automatically create to explain it. Instead of saying “I am tense,” one finds oneself saying “tension is occurring.” And instead of saying “I am tense because so and so did or said such and such,” one finds oneself simply noticing the various thoughts and emotions that arise automatically in the midst of the tension.

The Struggle Between Identification and Consciousness
If we stay with this presence, observing the struggle that begins to take place between identification with the tension and its supposed causes on the one side and consciousness of them on the other, the energies that would have been wasted will instead begin to feed presence itself.

As we take sides with consciousness, not allowing ourselves to become identified with or attached to our automatic reactions to whatever is happening, impressions, both from the inside and the outside, will come to life with new intensity and meaning as a kind of food for the soul. Our energy will become lighter and more sensitive, and we will begin to sense it throughout the organism as an expansive field of perception that connects us with our inner and outer worlds in a more direct and real way. As we allow our attention to stay with this more-global sensation, no matter what else is happening, we will find ourselves opening to the energy of consciousness itself. It is this energy that is needed for the work of self-transformation and awakening.

Copyright 2008-2010 by Dennis Lewis.

Free Your Breath, Free your Life

The way we breathe, of course, is often a revealing metaphor for our willingness or ability to experience what is actually going on inside ourselves and to move freely through and within our lives and ourselves. For some of us, for example, our restricted, superficial breathing is our unconscious way of suppressing our emotions, of feeling less. Opening up the restrictions in our breathing can help us open up the experiential spaces of our own minds and bodies and learn how to live in the full expanse of the present moment. It is in the spacious reality of the present moment that real exploration, healing, and wholeness can take place.

To live from more of the whole of ourselves is only possible, I believe, when we can fully exhale, when we can let go of everything that is truly unnecessary in our lives. We’re not just talking about a physical act here; we’re also talking about a psychological and spiritual one as well. Can I let go, moment-by-moment, of my narrow, illusory self-image and all the unnecessary muscular tensions and contractions that arise from it? Can I let go moment-by-moment of all the unnecessary and fictitious things, both big and small, that I get attached to and identify with, so that I can receive new, more honest and complete impressions and perceptions of myself and others? Can I live and relate from my wholeness right now instead of from my assumptions, opinions, and judgments based on past experiences and future expectations?

This is what the process of health, healing, and self-transformation is really all about—the inner space and freedom to explore, to be, and to appreciate who or what I already am in my essence. The way we breathe, the way we participate day-by-day in the breath of life—the boundless life force that animates and connects us all—can play a vital role in this intimate exploration.

Copyright 2004-10 by Dennis Lewis.

Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are

Breathe into Being
Awakening to Who You Really Are

Dennis Lewis, Quest Books

I believe it’s a sign of spiritual health and maturity that, as you get older, you start to see things much more simply. Many unnecessary things fall away, and the lens through which you see the world becomes far less cluttered than it was during the frantic search for meaning of your previous decades. Life becomes a kind of distillation of all you have learned, a distillation down to its essential ingredients.

At least, that is how I see it. So I tend to look for spiritual guidance and instruction that has a simple message and practice. For that reason alone, I knew I was going to find Dennis Lewis’ new book, ‘Breathe into Being,” a valuable addition to my spiritual library.

I’ve had a long interest in the use of following the breath for developing mindfulness, and Dennis Lewis’ work is one of the clearest and most practical expositions of this powerful tool for awakening.

Lewis’ CV, and authority, is impressive, to say the least. He is a graduate of three grand schools of consciousness: the Gurdjieff Work under Lord John Pentland, Advaita Vedanta under Jean Klein, and Taoism under Mantak Chia. Lewis’ approach is a skilful distillation of these three fruitful paths to awakening, with a powerful simplicity and great depth.

In Lewis’ own words, there are few, if any contemporary books that “explore the depths to which breathing itself, natural breathing, is a portal to presence, an ever-present gateway to awakening to and being what you really are.”

There are no lengthy and learned treatises here, but a rich tapestry of around 70 micro-chapters. It is more like a workbook, which Lewis says comes closer to how he actually teaches in a workshop setting.

Each chapter contains a specific practice, and there were many unique exercises that I had not seen before which I immediately incorporated into my daily practice.

Many of these exercises are effective methods for healing tension, undoing the physical and emotional knots and blocks that impede thee free flow of energy in what Lewis calls ‘this amazing temple of awareness’ called the human body.

However, the main focus of these practices is developing non-attachment, or non-identification, gently disengaging our identity away from the ego or personality, and releasing it into that wider ground of being that we are.

Lewis’ practices of simply following the breath are effective tools for generating mindfulness and presence, the space in which we can discover the truth about ourselves and the world.

They are wonderful exercises for developing that most valuable of spiritual commodities: attention.

“The key is simply to be present, to pay attention without any expectation or judgement, to what is happening as you read and practice and live. And it is to realise that being this presence, along with whatever appears within its field of illumination, is the very miracle and meaning for which you have been searching. (Breathe into Being p.8)

Leonardo Da Vinci once said that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Breathe into Being is one of the most sophisticated guides to awakening I have read.

Tony Cartledge
Author of Planetary Types: the Science of Celestial Influence

The first step is simply to see, sense, and feel just how impatient we actually are, as well as how this impatience produces so much pointless activity and negativity in our lives. Each of us needs to verify this for ourselves. In many cases the awareness itself of our impatience will help us become more patient. But what if it doesn’t? What can we do? Can we practice patience?

Yes, of course, there are many ways to practice patience–if we really wish to. One of the most effective ways comes from the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Tarthang Tulku, who says: “Instead of running after patience, relax and let it come to you. Loosen the tension in your body; open your concentration and allow your emotional energy to flow. Let the warm, soothing energy of patience arise within you and flow through your body easily and freely. This practice is the act of patience.”

During these difficult times of economic and international stress, turmoil, and conflict this is a practice that can pay many dividends.

Though I cannot remember in which book I read the above passage, one of my favorite books by Tarthang Tulku is Openness Mind. And while I couldn’t find the passage there, the book has other insights on the importance of patience. For example, he says there: “When we consciously develop patience, it can become a natural and appropriate response to each new situation; we strengthen ourselves for even more difficult times.”

The question remains, however: do we really wish to be patient, or are we all too ready to succumb to the allure of impatience, to the ubiquitous but erroneous assumption that it will help get things done faster and better?

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Dennis Lewis

“Smiling is science both ancient and modern. The power of a genuine smile to uplift our spirits and help heal us is profound and healing and empowering. Whether it is directed toward others or ourselves or is simply an expression of our innermost being, a genuine smile says ‘yes’ to the miracle and mystery of love and life.”–Dennis Lewis, quoted in Smile! The Secret Science of Smiling (see citation at bottom)

The next time you are feeling negative for any reason, or are experiencing pain, stress, or anxiety, think of or visualize someone who brings a smile to your face. If you are unable to do so, put a smile on your face anyway. However ludicrous it may seem to you, just “put on a smiling face.” Though it may feel unnatural at first, keep smiling for at least a two minutes and it will soon become natural—and genuine. (I’ve done it thousands of times; it works.) Once you are smiling, direct your smile inwardly into your whole body, allowing it to penetrate into all the cells, organs, tissues, and so on that your life depends on.

Now, keeping the smile on your face, rub your hands together until they are warm and put them, one on top of the other, on your navel. Sense the warmth and energy coming from your hands into your lower abdomen. Sense your breathing. Don’t attempt to control it. Notice how your belly expands or wants to expand on the in-breath and retracts or want to retract on the out-breath. As the inhalation takes place by itself, sense the air going not just through your nose but also through the smile on your face (with your mouth closed). Let the sensation, the energy, of the smile combine with the energy of your breath, and use both your intention and your attention to direct this energy down into the area that hurts or that is tense and contracted. If you are anxious, fearful, or impatient, direct the smiling breath down into your heart and the area around your navel. Be sure not to hold your breath at the end of the inhalation.

As you exhale, do so slowly and silently through pursed but relaxed lips (as though you are gently blowing on a single candle, making it flicker without actually blowing it out), and feel that any pain, discomfort, tension, anxiety, fear, or impatience is released with the exhalation. Let your next in-breath arise on its own.

As you continue this practice, sense your face frequently to be sure you are still smiling. Also, keep sensing the warmth and energy coming your hands into your navel area, letting the warmth and energy move all through your abdomen and into your spine. Each time the in-breath occurs, allow your abdomen to expand outward. On the out-breath, allow your abdomen to gently retract inward. This will help your diaphragm move through its full range of motion, which in turn will help open up all your breathing spaces.

Exhaling slowly through pursed lips ensures that the exhalation will take longer than the inhalation. This will help you relax. Don’t force your breathing in any way. The key is to keep smiling and be gentle. Practice like this for a minimum of five minutes at a time.

This is a very safe, powerful exercise that you can try any time of the day or night.

Copyright 2009 by Dennis Lewis. You can find more complete versions of this practice, and the science behind it, in my books The Tao of Natural Breathing and Free Your Breath, Free Your Life.

You might also wish to take a look at Smile! The Secret Science of Smiling, by Elan Sun Star, a wonderful book that, in addition to numerous beautiful smiling faces, includes a section by me on The Smiling Breath (pp. 177-81), and endorsements from people like Dr. Masaru Emoto, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Neale Donald Walsch (“Conversations with God”), and Captain James Lovell (US Apollo 13 moon landing).

The Breath of Life

Deep, natural breathing depends on the full, fluid motion of the diaphragm through its entire range of motion. The diaphragm is a dome-shaped structure that not only is the primary breathing muscle but also acts as a natural partition between the heart and lungs on the one hand, and all of the other internal organs on the other. The top of the dome of the diaphragm, located about one and one-half inches up from the bottom of the sternum, actually supports the heart. The diaphragm, which attaches not only to the ribs but also to the lower lumbar vertebrae, contracts downward as we inhale and relaxes upward as we exhale. Of course, the diaphragm moves in many other ways as well.

When our breathing is natural and deep, our lungs are able to expand more completely. This means that more oxygen is taken in and more carbon dioxide is released with each breath. When our breathing is natural and deep, the belly, lower ribcage, and lower back all expand on inhalation, thus drawing the diaphragm down deeper into the abdomen (though never below its connections to the lower ribs), and retract on exhalation, allowing the diaphragm to move fully upward toward the heart and lungs. In fact, it is the upward movement of the diaphragm on exhalation that squeezes the lungs and helps empty them of old air.

In deep, abdominal breathing, the rhythmical downward and upward movements of the diaphragm, combined with the outward and inward movements of the belly, ribcage, and lower back, also help to massage and detoxify our inner organs, promote blood flow and peristalsis, balance the nervous system, and pump the lymph more efficiently through the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system, which is an important part of the immune system, has no pump other than muscular movements, including the movements of breathing.

The first step to learning how to breathe deeply in a natural, effortless way is to sense any unnecessary tensions in your body and to learn how to release these tensions. Then, when the body needs to breathe deeply for the task at hand, it will be able to do so. Releasing unnecessary tension requires great inner attention and awareness. It requires learning the art of self-sensing and self-observation. Without sufficient awareness, without great sensitivity to what is happening inside our bodies, any efforts to change our breathing will at best have no effect whatsoever (we will quickly stop our breathing exercises), and at worst will create more tension and stress in our lives and thus undermine our health and well-being even further.

There are many effective ways to learn to sense and release your unnecessary tensions. Among the best are meditation, tai chi, qigong, yoga, bodywork, dance, Feldenkrais, and the Alexander method. What is most important in all these activities, however, is learning how to listen to your body and to how your negative, anxious, and judgmental thoughts and emotions create unnecessary tension throughout your body, thus impeding your ability to breathe fully.

Here, then, are the seven secrets of deep breathing. These principles also apply to natural, spontaneous breathing in any situation.

1. Don’t try to breathe deeply in all situations
The human organism is not designed to breathe deeply at all times and in all situations. Trying to do so will create many problems. The depth of our breath, whether it is shallow, medium, or deep, depends in large part on what it is we are doing. If we are sitting quietly reading, for example, we do not need to be breathing deeply. If we are working hard and expending a great deal of energy, however, we might well need to breathe deeply. Another situation in which deep breathing can be beneficial is when we are trying to revitalize our energy or for special breathing or healing exercises.

2. Whenever possible, breathe slowly and easily through your nose
When we breathe through our nose, the hairs that line our nostrils filter out particles of dust and dirt that can be injurious to our lungs. If too many particles accumulate on the membranes of the nose, we automatically secret mucus to trap them or sneeze to expel them. The mucous membranes of our septum, which divides the nose into two cavities, further prepare the air for our lungs by warming and humidifying it.

Another very important reason for breathing through the nose, one that many people are unaware of, has to do with maintaining the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. When we breathe through our mouth we usually inhale and exhale air quickly in large volumes. This often leads to a kind of hyperventilation or overbreathing (breathing excessively fast or breathing too much air for the conditions in which we find ourselves).

It is important to recognize that it is the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood that generally regulates our breathing. Research has shown that if we release carbon dioxide too quickly, which happens when we breathe too fast, the arteries and vessels carrying blood to our cells constrict and the oxygen in our blood is unable to reach the cells in sufficient quantity. This includes the carotid arteries which carry blood (and oxygen) to the brain. The lack of sufficient oxygen going to the cells of the brain can turn on our sympathetic nervous system, especially our “fight or flight” response, and make us tense, anxious, irritable, and depressed. There are some researchers who believe that excessive mouth breathing and the associated hyperventilation that it brings about can result in asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other medical problems.

3. Sense yourself being supported by the earth
Many of us are not very well grounded as we move through our lives. Our center of gravity is generally up in our chest and head. To breathe deeply and fully, however, requires that we begin to sense our center of gravity down in the navel area or just below. This is the area of the Hara (Japanese) or Lower Tan Tien (Chinese). It is also our natural center of gravity, which martial artists know so well.

What does it mean to ground ourselves? Is there anything that we can actually do, or is it simply a matter of being fully in the moment? Yes, there is something we can do. We can realize that in reality the earth has always supported us and that we are already grounded, and that if we don’t experience the benefits of this it is because we are lost in our thoughts, judgments, reactive emotions, and imagination.

All it takes is a bit of attention to what is actually happening right now and here–attention to the tensions that buffer us from the experience of being where we are: our tense raised shoulders, our tense feet on the ground always ready to go somewhere else, our tight, constricted breath. As we begin to observe these various habits and tendencies in ourselves, something lets go and we sense a living connection to the earth and its vast reservoir of energies. In short, we begin to relax into ourselves, which stimulates a natural, full breath.

4. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed as you breathe
Though sensing ourselves being supported by the earth will have an immediate beneficial impact on our breathing, many of us raise our shoulders in moments of anxiety, uncertainty, tension, and fear. Raising your shoulders takes the considerable weight of your shoulders off of your lungs, which stimulates upper chest breathing. Upper chest breathing is not deep breathing. It is generally shallow breathing. If you know someone with advanced emphysema, notice how their shoulders are typically frozen in a raised position. This helps them take in more air since they are not capable of taking a deep breath. So remember to allow your shoulders to drop down. Keep them relaxed.

5. Let your belly expand as you inhale and retract as you exhale
If you have a tight belly, one that does not easily and freely expand outward as you inhale, the diaphragm will have a more difficult time moving downward (and giving more space for the lungs to expand) because it is being resisted by the contracted abdominal muscles and the viscera. You must remember that everything touches something else in your abdomen, and a movement or constriction in one place influences everything around it. When you relax your belly and allow it to expand as you inhale, your viscera drop slightly down and out and thus make it easier for the diaphragm to contract downward. Then, when exhalation takes place, the diaphragm begins its upward movement of relaxation, aided by the elasticity of the diaphragm and the natural movement of the belly as it returns toward the spine.

As an experiment to see how your belly influences your breathing, intentionally suck in your belly now and try to inhale deeply (be careful not to do so too strenuously as you can hurt yourself). Then, once you are convinced that a tight belly impedes breathing, let your belly relax, put both hands on it, sense the warmth and energy coming from your hands, and allow your belly to expand as you inhale and retract as you exhale. Take several breaths in this way with your hands on your belly. Notice any differences from when you held your belly in tightly.

The fact is, with your belly held very tightly there will be much less downward movement of your diaphragm on inhalation since there is so much resistance to this movement from the abdominal muscles and viscera. And, if there is little downward movement on inhalation, there will be little upward movement on exhalation. So you will sense a lot of tension and effort in your breathing, which will often become less efficient, shallower, and faster, driven mainly by the secondary breathing muscles of the chest.

6. Learn how to free up your diaphragm
As a result of more and more mental and emotional stress in our lives, as well as the common image of the flat, hard belly that is so prevalent today, people carry a lot of unnecessary tension in their bellies, and, over time, this, combined with unnecessary tensions in the throat, chest, and back and many other factors that I discuss in my books and audio program, constricts the diaphragm and makes it difficult for it to move through its full range of motion. A lot of this tension is a result of the over stimulation of our sympathetic nervous system, which can arouse a “flight or fight or freeze” response. Over time, this diminished movement of the diaphragm becomes the norm for many people, and the diaphragm in fact weakens and loses its ability to move through its entire potential range of motion (some five to six inches in the vertical direction), which means it often becomes incapable of moving fully downward or fully upward during the in-breath and the out-breath.

When the diaphragm is unable to move freely and easily, both our inhalation and our exhalation suffer and so does our voice, and eventually our health and well-being suffer as well. (It is important to realize that it is not just the diaphragmatic movements up and down that become restricted, it is also the horizontal and other movements, as well as the shape and size of the diaphragm that are adversely affected.) If your diaphragm has weakened over the years, which is the case for many people, it will be helpful to undertake remedial action to strengthen it. The most effective way to do so is through a special program of vocalization, including humming, chanting, and singing.

7. Do not use excessive effort in deep breathing
It is important to realize that excessive effort creates tension that impedes the diaphragm and secondary breathing muscles (the intercostals) and thus undermines the breath. It is imperative, therefore, that anyone attempting to work with his or her breath use the minimum amount of physical effort necessary when doing any kind of breathing exercises and learn how to sense what happens not only in their breathing muscles but also in their entire body when they undertake these exercises. The key words here are gentleness, self-sensing, and awareness.

The reason for this is simple: the brain learns and performs best when we use the least possible effort to accomplish a given task. For thousands of years, Taoist masters have emphasized this principle through their advice to use no more than 70 percent of our capacity in carrying out physical practices related to movement and breath. The Weber-Fechner psychophysical law (the law is described in detail on page 48 of Peter Nathan’s book The Nervous System, Oxford University Press) demonstrates one reason why this is so important; it states that the “senses are organized to take notice of differences between two stimuli rather than the absolute intensity of a stimulus.” When we try hard to do something, when we use unnecessary force to accomplish our goals, our whole body generally ends up becoming tense. This tension makes it more difficult for our brain and nervous systems to discern the subtle sensory impressions necessary to help carry out our intention in the most creative way possible. And it creates tensions throughout the body that make it more difficult to breathe freely and easily and thus undermines the spontaneous flow of the breath of life. So stop trying so hard; just let yourself be breathed.

Copyright 2009 by Dennis Lewis

To go deeper into the conditions that enable a fuller, more natural breath, and to learn how your breathing can help you open to the miracle of your being, read my latest book: Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are.