The Center for Harmonious Awakening

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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!

Dennis Lewis

Dennis Lewis: My work, including natural breathing, qigong, tai chi, and meditation, is oriented toward helping people discover a sense of their own real wholeness. It is based on the fact that most of us lose ourselves constantly in one or another side of ourselves–in our thoughts, emotions, sensations, and so on. As a result, we live fragmented, dishonest, and disharmonious lives. And while we might agree intellectually that this is true, many of us are not convinced enough to actually undertake the demanding work of self-awareness and self-transformation, a work that begins with learning how to sense and observe ourselves sincerely, to listen impartially to ourselves in action. Since our breathing both reflects and conditions the various sides of ourselves, a vital part of this process involves work with breath.

Unfortunately, most of us take our breathing for granted. The great Taoist sage Chuang Tzu says that most of us breathe from our throats, and that real human beings breathe from their heels. One might ask here: are we real human beings? Are we exploring what it means to be truly human? If our breathing takes place mainly in the throat or the upper chest, where it does for most of us, then we can do all the qigong, yoga, and other spiritual exercises we desire but we will never experience a real sense of human wholeness.

A lot of your work is with emotional clearing, cleansing or balancing using breath work, which is something that a lot of people probably don’t connect together.

That’s true. Basically, the first step is to be present to the state that I am actually in. The foundation of my work with breathing has to do with learning how to follow the breath without any interference whatsoever. Why do we need to follow the breath without interference? Well, as Chuang Tzu says, “All things that have consciousness depend upon breath. But if they do not get their fill of breath, it is not the fault of Heaven. Heaven opens up the passages and supplies them day and night without stop. But man on the contrary blocks up the holes.” (Chuang Tzu, Basic Writings, Burton Watson [New York, Columbia University Press, 1964], p. 74) Much of what we do in our lives, and even in our work with breathing, simply “blocks up” our inner breathing spaces. In learning to follow our breath, we not only begin to observe and sense the narrow self-image that ruins so much in our lives, but we also discover a deeper power of awareness that relates to our real human potentiality.

What is it in us that can follow our breath?

What we’re talking about here is the unknown. We can call it the witness, God, the Absolute, higher mind, or whatever we want, but, in general, we do not experience it. We’re looking to get in touch with the whole of ourselves, which is mostly unknown. But my emotions, especially my so-called negative emotions, very often narrow my awareness to a very tiny side of myself. For example, anxiety, anger, and fear put me into a very hyper vigilant, fight-or-flight type of state, a state that undermines both my health and my sense of wholeness. I need to observe this process in action. When I learn to follow the breath, I become convinced of what my state really is. By seeing how shallow and constricted and suffocating it is, I begin, at the same time, to become aware of my habitual emotions that are that also shallow, constricted and suffocating. A shallow breath very often goes with specific emotional states that we don’t see because we’ve taken them so much for granted.

We live in a culture in which everything is continually speeding up. This puts an ever-increasing load on our brain and nervous system. This means that our nervous systems are constantly on alert. Now the nervous system, which is extremely flexible and adaptable, eventually learns to adapt to this faster way of living and the enormous strain it puts on our perception. It adapts to this higher level of stress as though it were a normal thing. But the problem is that while this higher level of stress occurs and our nervous system adapts to it, the health of the body is being undermined and the immune system is being undermined. We need to become convinced of this fact.

When you say convinced, would aware be a better term?

Awareness, of course, is the key. The reason I use the word “convinced,” however, is that a lot of people mentally know this but they’re not actually convinced that it is happening to them. They think they are above it or beyond it. But the problem is that our nervous system adapts in such a way that it appears to us that we are living a normal life when in fact we’re living a stressed-out life and don’t know it because it feels normal. But as I begin to follow my breath and observe my self-image, and see how narrow and constricted they are, I begin to become convinced that something is not right, and that I really do need to work on myself in a new, more sincere way.

Once you have become convinced, can you then use the breath to clear or balance these states?
Well, first of all, the process of being convinced is a lifelong one, because our tendency is to confuse knowing with understanding. But yes, you can begin to work with the breath in such a way that it brings a new sense of internal balance. You don’t need work with the breath all the time, day in and day out. Even if it were possible, that would just add to your tension. But if you spend 20 or 30 minutes a day sensing and observing your breath, your tensions, and your emotions, you will begin to become ever more increasingly convinced that something is not quite right, that all of these tensions and constrictions and negative emotions disharmonize the flow of energy and keep you from living as a whole being in harmony with yourself. So you continue the work of self-observation, you continue the work of following the breath toward the unconscious aspects of yourself, to make them more conscious.

As you continue this work, you begin to discover that, from a physical standpoint, the breath can be understood as taking place in various spaces of your body, which can be called “breathing spaces.” Let’s, for the moment, assume the body has three major breathing spaces, although it has more. The first breathing space is from above the navel on down to the feet. The second breathing space is from just above the navel to the top of the diaphragm. The third breathing space is from the top of the diaphragm up to the head. Now in many of us, one or more of these spaces are constricted or clogged up. So not only is there no complete resonance possible in that space, but by clogging up that space, as Chuang Tzu would say, I’m restricting the movement of energy in that particular area through the energy channels to my vital organs, including my brain.

Is one or another of these breathing spaces more likely to become clogged?

Most of us have problems in all the spaces, but the lower breathing space, whose center is in the area of the lower tan tien, as well as the lower part of the middle space, is often the most constricted. There are many reasons for this, including the goal of maintaining a hard, flat belly, but one of the most obvious is that this is where we often experience and store our negative emotions, especially those that we have a difficult time digesting. With natural, authentic breathing the belly wants to expand on inhalation and retract on exhalation. Among many other things, this movement of the belly helps promote diaphragmatic breathing and a healthy immune system. But if my belly is locked up in tension, the movement doesn’t take place. This makes my breathing inefficient and robs me of my vitality.

So what can I do if I’m in that situation?

There are many approaches to opening up the breathing spaces of the body. Yoga, qigong, tai chi, dance, body work, and so on can all help. We must remember, however, that we’re dealing here with both physical and energetic habits and patterns. Opening up these areas physically and energetically is just the beginning. It is also important to become aware, to sense and observe, the roots of these disharmonies, what’s maintaining them in the first place. If I am habitually angry, for example, and that anger is affecting the whole area around my liver, I will most likely have a lot of tensions and blockages in my liver area, of which I may be totally unaware. But if I begin to breathe into that area, if I learn how to allow my breath into that area, these emotions will begin to become more visible to me, and instead of either suppressing them or expressing them in inappropriate, unhealthy ways, I will begin to discover that they can be transformed. But there is still much more to explore. Where is my anger coming from, for instance? What restrictions and constrictions in my perceptions and self-image are producing this anger? What is keeping me from the experience of my own wholeness? Lao Tzu says, if people “can forsake their narrow sense of self and live wholly, then what can they call trouble?”.

If people do qigong and tai chi from a narrow self-image, the practices are unlikely to have much transformative power. I often hear people talking in a fuzzy, vain way about their energies, their chi, forgetting that what is really at stake is not just some feeling of energy someplace in the body, but rather a true opening into the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of ourselves—a real sense of wholeness. But by learning to follow movements and energies of our breath and by working with the various breathing spaces of the body, we can begin to support this opening, this movement toward wholeness and integrity.

How do you work with breath? What do you teach people who come to you?

Many people today have a narrow understanding of what work with breathing is all about. They think first of breath holding, breath counting, alternate nostril breathing, and so on. But this kind of work, what is usually called pranayama, is only one tiny aspect of breathwork. So perhaps the first step is to understand what is actually possible. I have come up with a categorization of breathing work which I think not only helps to clarify certain things which are often confused both in our thinking and practice, but also makes it possible for people to work with their own breathing in a safe, effective way. I teach various practices within each of these seven categories. By the way, except for category number one, there is no particular priority in the way I have ordered these approaches.

The first category is what I would call conscious breathing, learning how to follow your breath, which we have already talked about. This is the foundation of all the other approaches.

The second category is focused breathing. Focused breathing is especially useful when you realize that you have a problem in a particular area or a particular organ. The essence of focused breathing is directing the movement and energy of your breath there into that particular area. You do not use force or willpower to accomplish this, but rather simply your attention and intention.

It’s important to understand that when I say breath what I’m really talking about is the movement and energy of breathing. Breath is movement. Life is movement. Breath is life. While the oxygen from the breath always goes into the lungs, the energetic movement of the breath can go anyplace in the body and needs eventually to encompass the whole body.

The third category is what is called controlled breathing. Controlled breathing is classically what is known as pranayama, and often involves breath holding, breath counting, alternate nostril breathing, fast breathing, and so on in order to facilitate some chemical, emotional, or spiritual change. There are many beneficial practices in pranayama or controlled breathing, but people who don’t breathe in a natural, harmonious way and do a lot of pranayama can hurt themselves, sometimes very badly. If they don’t hurt themselves physically or emotionally they can also mess up their energies. So for beginners I only recommend controlled breathing for very special kinds of issues, such as excessive tension or high blood pressure problem. Most controlled breathing exercises are therapeutic in nature and don’t really transform the breathing for the long haul.

What’s wrong with breath holding?

One of the reasons I don’t teach breath-holding practices is that most of us already hold our breath a lot . For many of us, the diaphragm does not move fully and harmoniously. Because of the excessive tension in one or another part of our bodies, and because of lack of coordination among our various breathing structures, the diaphragm often does not move in a coherent and even way. The diaphragm was made to go though its full range of motion in a very free and even way. If, under the influence of stress, you’re holding your breath a lot, or restricting the movement of your diaphragm in any way, the end result is more tension and more stress. Practicing breath holding is only going to exacerbate this situation.

The fourth and fifth categories, movement-supported breathing and posture-supported breathing are closely related, and are extremely safe yet powerful ways of working with our breath. Qigong and yoga are good examples. Our movements and postures can be very stimulating to our breath. Each movement we make or posture we take shapes our breathing in a very specific way. Raising our arms, bending over, twisting, reaching out, well-aligned standing, and so on, will call forth different breathing patterns in different people, depending on type and conditioning. Intentionally undertaking a wider range of movements and postures in our lives than we are accustomed to can help increase the range and power of our breath. This is why stretching frequently and in many different ways is so important. When we were children, for example, we kept our breathing relatively open through the many varied postures and movements we took when playing, running, swimming, jumping, and so on. Today, however, most of us live lives that put few healthy demands on our bodies and breathing.

Category number six is touch-supported breathing. Most of us don’t realize that the skin is the largest organ system of the body, constituting about 16 to 18 percent of our total body weight and providing more than one-half million sensory fibers to the spinal cord. Many of us have incomplete or faulty awareness of our skin. And this faulty awareness, which is influenced by underlying tensions in our muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia, impedes the overall functioning of our organism, including our breathing. So I use and teach various kinds of touch to awaken and influence the sensory fibers in the skin, as well as in the areas just beneath the skin. This energetic awakening of our skin and the underlying tissues and bones can have a powerful influence on our breath. The kinds of touch we might use include gentle touch, rubbing, skin pulling, tapping, and pressure.

The seventh category is sound-supported breathing. Here I use specific vowel sounds, in conjunction with special postures, movements, and so on, to help open up specific breathing spaces in the body. When we were kids, most of us sang, hummed, and shouted, and made all sorts of spontaneous sounds. As we grew older, many of us learned to be “seen and not heard” and gradually our spontaneous sounds were replaced by abstract language. And, because of comments from family, friends, teachers, and so on, many of us even stopped singing altogether, believing that we should only sing if we have a “good voice.” But making sounds is one of the most powerful ways of strengthening the diaphragm. By sounds, I mean sustained tones of some kind; I don’t mean talking. When you make sustained sounds you start to connect with your internal organs and energies, as well as with your limbic system and emotions. In this way, emotions and frustrations that close us off in some way can begin to be touched and released. To understand the great power of sound-supported breathing, it’s important to realize that healthy breathing starts with exhalation. Making sustained sounds conditions the diaphragm to move upward through its entire range of motion in an even and harmonious way, and this in turn stimulates a free, spontaneous inhalation.

What we’re exploring here is our own natural, unconditioned breath. This can occur when our exhalation is full and our inhalation comes as a natural reflex, without any kind of struggle or willfulness. The secret is in the exhalation, not in the inhalation. If you learn how to exhale in the right way, which sustained sounds, chanting, humming and so on can help you discover, then the inhalation will come in a freer, more-natural way, appropriate to the needs of the moment. Of course, there are many other benefits from this kind of work. Certain notes, tones, and rhythms can actually be used for healing. They can reach and cut through different energy patterns in us. Lao Tzu said, “The best knots are tied without rope.” This is certainly true energetically, because we have many mostly invisible energetic knots in ourselves that are difficult to untie. We don’t always know where they are, but through chant, song and sound, we can learn how to untie or cut through these knots and help open up a new, more global sense of spaciousness in ourselves.

How would you sum up your work with breath?

My work with breath is not just about better health; it’s also about the development of consciousness and being. People in today’s stressed-out world often say, “I just don’t have enough space in my life. I need more space.” My approach to the breath involves opening up the experiential spaces of the body/mind. This work really begins with the intention to be able to exhale fully, which requires that we learn how to release and 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 self-image, all the things, both big and small, that I get attached to and identify with, so that I can begin to take in new, more-honest and complete impressions and perceptions of myself and others? Can I begin to live from my wholeness? This is what it is all about. Our breathing can play a vital role in this process.

Copyright 2000-10 by Dennis Lewis. This is an edited version of an interview with me that was first published in the Fall 2000 issue of The Empty Vessel, A Journal of Contemporary Taoism. Some of the approaches discussed in this interview, especially the seven categories of ways of working with the breath, are explored deeply in my book, Free Your Breath, Free Your Life.

Our New Desert Home & Center

We have just purchased a wonderful desert home, located not too far from Dynamite Blvd and 136th St, that will also function as The Center for Harmonious Awakening. Though our address is a Scottsdale address, we are not in Scottsdale or any other city. The house is on about 2.5 acres and has its own well for water.

The Center for Harmonious Awakening
My aim–and the aim of The Center for Harmonious Awakening–is to help us see and go beyond the boundaries of the conditioned mind–the habitual constellation of thoughts, emotions, sensations, beliefs, and judgments that each of us calls “myself”–and to help open us to the vast breadth of the life force as it manifests through us at this very moment. The work we do at the Center is to help us awaken, in a harmonious way, to who and what we really are in our essence, to the freedom of real presence and consciousness–the freedom to see and say “yes” to the miracle of what is.

Whatever noble aims we may have, paths we may be on, or necessary efforts we may make, our only real freedom is to awaken now, this very instant, to the mystery and miracle of being, to the spacious awareness that we are. It is only this immediate awakening to the deepest levels of ourselves, to the conscious source that connects us all, that will enable us to experience and manifest real harmony, intelligence, kindness, love, and compassion in our lives and bring about the transformation in the world that we all wish for.

View from One of Our Decks

To help accomplish this, I plan to offer frequent day-long “intensives” at the Center, including satsangs, self-inquiry, meditation, special postures and movements, and work with self-sensing and breathing.

Humming Breath Qigong
I will also be regularly teaching my recently developed qigong form called Humming Breath Qigong, which I formally unveiled to qigong teachers and students at the National Qigong Conference at the Asilomar Conference Center in June, 2009.

Here’s something I wrote about the workshop elsewhere on this blog:

“At the workshop, I presented a very simple yet powerful qigong form that I had created and practiced over many months called ‘Humming Breath Qigong.’ … Having taught and taken workshops at many NQA conferences in the past, and having experienced the fact that many teachers give their students far more than they can learn and thus end up creating unnecessary tension and frustration, I felt that this new form would be perfect for the three hours we had together. And it was. Everyone loved the form and learned the postures and movements very quickly (the inner dimensions of the form can take many weeks or months to understand and appreciate). One of the participants, who teaches qigong, has since sent me a verbal description of the movements, along with drawings, which I am in the process of editing and will eventually make available to anyone who takes the class. She also asked for my permission to teach the form and disseminate the notes to her students. All in all, this was one of the best classes I have ever taught, especially so because all the students were serious, attentive, and open to having fun as we worked together. It was also a huge help that they had all worked in one way or another with body awareness.”

Desert Center Swimming Pool

And here are a few responses from people who attended the workshop (evaluations were requested from participants by the National Qigong Association):

–”Very beautiful and effective.”
–”Very knowledgeable – especially of what was happening physically and energetically.”
–”Was clearly able to share information from his extensive background with breathing.”
–”Good explanations and good use of examples and stories to illustrate the teachings.”
–”He took one practice and built on it so that we gained a depth of experience.”
–”Fabulous class!”
–”A thoughtful and methodical approach that made the material accessable and easy to learn.”
–”A lovely experience.”
–”What a surprise! Loved this qigong and will definitely take this home to practice.”
–”Very helpful in fundamental ways that will certainly enhance my life from here on out.”

I’ve also taught (and continue to teach) Humming Breath Qigong to those students who attend my Sunday and Wednesday meetings at my home in South Scottsdale.

Day-Long and Weekend Intensives
In addition to frequent day-long intensives at The Center for Harmonious Awakening, we will also offer weekend intensives. Though we will have only very limited private accommodations at the Center, there will be plenty of sleeping bag space available for weekend acitivities. There are also many motels, hotels, and resorts in North Scottsdale, only 20 minutes or so from us. On occasion, we will invite other teachers to take part in our activities at the Center.

A View from the Center

Since we have just purchased the property, it will likely take us a couple of months to get fully organized. if you would like to be on our email list so that we can notify you of upcoming activities, please click here to fill out our email form or click on the “Contact” link (on the top of the page). Be sure to include your name and email address. Of course, we will also announce all events on this blog and on our website for The Center for Harmonious Awakening, which I am still developing. Thank you!

The Harmony of Mindful Breathing

Yogis, qigong practitioners, meditators, and alternative health practitioners have known for many years that conscious, natural breathing can help reduce stress, increase relaxation, and facilitate healing. In her groundbreaking book Molecules of Emotion, neuroscientist Candace Pert lends scientific support to this view when she tells us that bringing our attention to our breathing during meditation brings many such benefits. According to Pert, mindful breathing helps us “enter the mind-body conversation without judgments or opinions, releasing peptide molecules from the hindbrain to regulate breathing while unifying all systems.”

In a phone conversation I had with her on May 9, 1995, Pert pointed out that the part of the brain that controls breathing is located at the fourth ventrical of the floor of the brain. This is the same location the secretes many neuropeptides, which, among other actions, modulate our feelings, which, of course, have an enormous influence on almost every aspect of how we function.

What is important to take from these physiological facts is that the way we breathe can have a powerful influence on the relationship between mind, emotions, and body. If our breathing is disharmonious, for example, the relationships between these functions will also be disharmonious, resulting in poor communication between them and little sense of real wholeness.

A big help in improving communication, harmony, between these functions is to practice following, being present to, your breathing. In this practice, you simply use your inner attention to follow, to sense, your inhalations, exhalations, and any natural pauses between for several breaths. When sensing your breathing, it is important not to attempt to manipulate it or control it in any way. Any effort to do so, especially an effort driven by your thoughts or emotions, will most likely bring or exacerbate disharmony.

If you really wish to reduce stress, increase relaxation, and improve communication between thinking, feeling, and sensing, one approach is to sit quietly each day for at least 15 minutes in touch with the whole sensation of your body, including the subtle inner and outer movements of your breath. Sit on a chair or cushion with your eyes closed and your hands either together in your lap or palms down on your knees. Sense your weight being supported by the earth, and allow the entire sensation of your body to come alive inside your awareness.

Once your mind and body become very quiet and you are in touch with the overall sensation of your body, pay particular attention for several breaths first to the air entering and leaving your nose, noticing the warmth or coolness of the air. Then gradually (and progressively) expand your attention to include the movement of air into and out of  not only your nose, but also your throat, trachea, and lungs. Sense how the air feels as it moves through the airways and notice any “electric charges” as the air intimately touches the tissues through which it moves.

As you undertake this practice, be careful not to analyze or judge anything you notice about your breathing. Just watch, sense, and feel your breath as it manifests throughout your body. This will help balance your energies and bring your body, mind, and feelings into a more intimate and harmonious relationship.

Copyright 2010 by Dennis Lewis

The Endless Knot, from Wikipedia

Over the years, I have been asked how I became a so-called master. I resisted responding in any way to this question for a long time…well, until now. Close to the end of my life, it seems fitting now to tell the real story. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. You’ll be able to return quickly to whatever it is that really interests you.

One day, many, many years ago, I was sitting quietly by the roadside trying to figure out what to do with my life. I had just lost my job, my wife, and my home, and everything was in question, including the meaning of my life. I think I had been sitting pondering for several hours when a man happened along and squatted quietly on the opposite side of the road facing me. Though he said nothing, he stared at me intensely without moving a muscle. There was something about the way the man looked at me, the great concern that emanated from him, that made me think he was someone very special, perhaps even a great master.

Believing that I might learn something from this man, and with nothing better to do, I simply sat there observing, only taking breaks to care of the natural functions when the man sitting opposite me did so. Of course, sitting in that way created much tension in my body, so I began to stretch and move in all sorts of ways to relieve the tension. The man also stretched and moved but in ways that looked more interesting than mine. He seemed to know what he was doing. Some of the postures and movements even looked like yoga and qigong, which I had dabbled with. So I simply imitated him, but added from memory some of the postures and movements that I had previously learned. Soon we were spontaneously doing all kind of exercises together, even chanting and singing. I was seeing many new things about myself and really felt as though new meanings were opening up for me.

After several days, and finally coming to the realization that perhaps this man could help me answer the question that was burning inside, I asked with great intensity, “Please tell me Master, what should I do with my life?”

Startled, the man looked back at me and said in sincere confusion: “But I thought you were the master.”

The instant these words were spoken an all-embracing light turned on inside of me, a light that had never revealed itself before, and I suddenly realized who and what I was.

In response to the question, cynical or otherwise, that may have arisen in you, I will ask you one in return: aren’t we all here to help and care for one another? Aren’t we all, consciously or unconsciously, simultaneously students, teachers and even masters in relation to one another and at whatever level is possible for us? Aren’t we all part of “the endless knot” of relationship?

In any case, and for what it’s worth, that’s the story of how I first happened to be called a master. But you may call me whatever you like, as you are no doubt already doing.

Copyright 2009 by Dennis Lewis. This story was inspired by an insight I had while reading a short parable recounted by Idries Shah in his book The Commanding Self.

Dennis Lewis

Controlling the breath causes strain. If too much energy is used, exhaustion follows. This is not the way of Tao. Whatever is contrary to Tao will not last long.–Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching (Translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Vintage Books, 1989, p. 57)

So often today I hear from people who have been and are attempting to breathe in a healthier way that their efforts don’t seem to bring them many results, and, in some cases, even make them feel worse. When I talk in depth with them about how they work with their breath, I not only discover that they often have little idea what is involved in healthy breathing (some people wrongly believe that healthy breathing is equivalent to “deep breathing”), but, just as important, I discover that many people use too much physical effort in their attempts at better breathing, however they define it. This is especially true on the in-breath, where many people feel like they have to “grab” air and force it in.

For anyone who is interested in allowing “the breath of life” to animate them more fully, for example in qigong or yoga, it is important to realize that excessive effort actually impedes the diaphragm and secondary breathing muscles and thus makes healthy, harmonious breathing more difficult. It is therefore imperative that anyone who is attempting to work with their 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, here, is self-sensing and awareness, which I go into in depth in my various books, including The Tao of Natural Breathing, Free Your Breath, Free Your Life, and Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are.

In my book The Tao of Natural Breathing, I discussed the importance of “The Law of Least Effort.” Here is a passage from my book that explains the “psychophysical law” that underlies this discussion:

As we begin to learn how to sense ourselves–especially in relation to our breathing–we will quickly see that the sensation of intense effort in the many areas of our lives often signals a “wrong” relationship not only to what we are doing, but, perhaps more importantly, to ourselves. It is not wrong in any moral or ethical way, but simply because it is counterproductive–it goes against the laws of harmonious functioning. Wrong effort constricts our breathing, cuts us off from our own energy, and produces actions that we did not intend. … It is clear to me today that as we learn to sense ourselves more completely and impartially, we free up the inner intelligence of our minds and bodies to learn new, better ways to accomplish our aims and promote health in our lives.

The Law of Least Effort

To understand how this is possible, it is important to understand that 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 60 or 70 percent of our capacity in carrying out physical or spiritual practices. The Weber-Fechner psychophysical law demonstrates one reason why this is so important, since 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.

The “law of least effort” is not, however, a license for laziness. Our health, well-being, and inner growth all require a dynamic balance of tension and relaxation, of yang and yin. They depend on the ability to know through our inner and outer senses what is necessary and what is not in our efforts and actions. To sense ourselves clearly, we need to be able to experience a part or dimension of ourselves that is quiet, comfortable, and free of unnecessary tension. It is the sensation of subtle impressions coming from this more relaxed place in ourselves that allows us to observe and release the unnecessary tension in other parts of ourselves. In short, effective action requires relaxation. But this relaxation should not be a “collapse” of either our body or our awareness. It is more like the “vigilant relaxation” of a cat. Vigilant relaxation makes it possible to manifest the appropriate degree of contraction–the life-giving tension called “tonus”–in any given situation.

I hope this discussion of “The Law of Least Effort” and the Weber-Fechner psychophysical law (the law can be found on page 48 of Peter Nathan’s book The Nervous System, Oxford University Press) helps you understand (at least to some extent) why, if you want real, lasting results, it is so important to work as gently as possible with your breathing–especially when you are working on your own. When you put yourself in the hands of a body worker or breathing therapist, of course, he or she may work on you in necessary ways that are not always gentle. But when you do breathing exercises on your own, it is your inner sensitivity and awareness, combined with right intention and knowledge, that will eventually bring about any necessary changes. Self-inflicted force and manipulation, including tension-filled efforts to breathe deeply, will not only seldom help, but in many cases will only cause further problems.”

Many people do breathing exercises today, especially those involving breath control (pranayama), and, as I have pointed out in my books and articles, these practices can cause harm when done prematurely or without proper guidance. Many people today simply have too little body awareness and understanding for the advanced breath control exercises they read about or are given. They often walk into a yoga class that has people of varying levels of experience both teaching and taking the class and are given pranayama exercises that may be totally unsuitable for them at that time.

An even more fundamental problem is that the mind doesn’t really have a clue about how to direct the body to breathe in a harmonious and balanced way for the particular situation of one’s health and life. Carrying out various counting and breath-holding exercises that one has learned on the Internet or from a video or book, for example, and often doing so with excessive tension in order to reach the count, is the height of absurdity, especially for people filled with stress and tension. To be sure, when one interrupts one’s habitual breathing patterns, one often feels better initially. But this feeling may well mask the negative impact that such exercises can have on our breathing in the long term. One good example is advanced breathing exercises involving breath holding, where one tenses in order to hold the breath. This can create more tension in the diaphragm and secondary breathing muscles and seriously undermine the overall functioning of your breathing muscles. Advanced breath control exercises for increased health, energy, and other goals can be beneficial for those who already breathe in a natural, relaxed, and harmonious way, but they are contraindicated for those who do not already breathe naturally.

So, if you are one of those who does breathing exercises on a regular basis, especially exercises involving so-called deep breathing, I suggest that you sense your body/mind as honestly as you can and do far less than you believe is possible for you. When you experience any kind of tension as you breathe, you are probably doing too much. The recent adage “less is more” applies in this case. The less tension you have, the more you will be able to discern both what is going on in your body/mind and what is actually needed.

Copyright 1997-2009 By Dennis Lewis. All rights reserved. This article, which is an edited and expanded version of an article that appears on the Authentic Breathing Resources website, may not be reproduced for any purpose without written permission from the author.

Dennis Lewis

Lewis maintains that negative emotional experiences such as anxiety, worry, and so on can be the result of excessively fast breathing–also referred to as “overbreathing.” This kind of breathing, called hyperventilation, often occurs when we take quick, shallow breaths from the top of our chest. It also frequently occurs when we breathe through our mouths. He points out that although the average text book breathing rate for people at rest is about 12 to 17 times a minute, many of us breathe even faster than this. And when we do, we will generally find ourselves anxious, irritable, apprehensive, and even fearful—all for no apparent reason. He also believes that even the breathing rate of 12-17 times a minute is often faster than it needs to be and is itself often a subtle form of chronic hyperventilation. “People who undertake qigong (chi kung), tai chi, yoga, breath therapy, or other such practices, often reduce their breathing rate to between 4-10 breaths a minute,” as well as their levels of stress and anxiety.

“It’s important to understand the role of carbon dioxide in helping to ensure the efficient utilization of oxygen in the body, which is absolutely imperative for maintaining good health. When our breathing rate is too high, that is, when we breathe too fast,” Lewis explains, “we reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our blood below its optimum level. This reduced level of carbon dioxide causes many problems. For example, it causes the arteries, including the carotid artery going to the brain, to constrict, thus reducing the flow of blood throughout the body. It also makes it more difficult for the red blood cells to release oxygen to the cells of the brain and body. When we have too little carbon dioxide, our brain and body will experience a shortage of oxygen no matter how much oxygen we may breathe into our lungs. This lack of oxygen switches on the sympathetic nervous system—our ‘fight or flight’ reflex—which makes us tense, anxious and irritable. It also reduces our ability to think clearly, and tends to put us at the mercy of obsessive thoughts and images.”

According to Lewis, however, the effects of chronic hyperventilation (a breathing rate that is too high) go far beyond mental and emotional symptoms such as anxiety and fearfulness. Lewis states that some researchers and medical doctors, including Professor Konstantin Buteyko from Russia, now believe on the basis of many studies that the overly high breathing rate of chronic hyperventilation is instrumental in some 200 medical problems and diseases, including asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, memory loss, sinusitis, arthritis, panic attacks, stress, rhinitis, headaches, heartburn, and many more.

Lewis points out that although chronic hyperventilation can be the result of underlying emotional or psychological problems, it can also be the result of bad breathing habits formed in childhood. One such habit is mouth breathing, which releases huge quantities of carbon dioxide very quickly. It is very important, therefore to learn how to breathe only through your nose is the normal activities of your daily life, including when you are doing aerobics. Chronic hyperventilation can also be the result of poor posture, excessive muscular tension, poor diet, and the prevailing image of the hard, flat belly that we find in fashion and fitness magazines. To breathe naturally, says Lewis, is to breathe with our whole body, the way a baby or animal does. For this to occur, we not only need a flexible, unconstricted ribcage, but also a supple belly. Our belly needs to be able to expand on inhalation and retract on exhalation.

According to Lewis, this bellows-like movement of the belly supports the upward and downward movement of the diaphragm. When the belly expands on inhalation, the diaphragm can expand farther downward into the abdomen, which allows the lungs to expand more fully. When the belly retracts on exhalation, the diaphragm can relax farther upward helping to empty the lungs. The diaphragm’s increased downward and upward range of movement not only allows the lungs to take in and release air (including oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases) with fewer, slower, more-coordinated breaths, but it also helps to massage all the internal organs. This “internal massage,” says Lewis, has a healthful impact on digestion, elimination, blood flow, the immune system, and the nervous system, reducing overall stress and anxiety.

Lewis, the cofounder of a highly successful technology-related business, has been studying the breathing process for the last 30 years in a variety of disciplines. After he sold his business several years ago to a large English firm, he found himself with an abdominal pain that his doctors could neither diagnose nor cure. During this period, he met a body work practitioner who was able to alleviate the problem in several hour-long sessions. This practitioner used a technique called Chi Nei Tsang—a form of internal-organ energy massage and breathwork brought to the West by Taoist master Mantak Chia. Lewis found this approach so helpful that he went on to become a certified practitioner and worked for a couple of years in a well-known acupuncture clinic in San Francisco.

Lewis says that it was his experiences with Chi Nei Tsang that inspired him to write his first book, The Tao of Natural Breathing, and develop his audio program Natural Breathing, which bring together the meditative wisdom of the East with the scientific knowledge of the West with regard to breathing. “As I began working on ordinary people with various physical and emotional problems,” says Lewis, “I saw that many of these problems, including anxiety, were often related to their breathing. I also saw that most of us are unaware of our bad breathing habits and have little understanding of how these habits undermine our health and well-being.”

Lewis says he wrote the book and developed his audio program so that people could begin to explore this important subject for themselves. “Breathing exercises are a dime a dozen,” says Lewis, “especially advanced exercises such as breath retention, fast alternate nostril breathing, and reverse breathing. You can walk into almost any bookstore and find a variety of books and tapes promoting such exercises. What you can’t usually find in these stores, however, are books and tapes with a clear understanding of natural breathing and of how the way we breathe, including our breathing rate, relates to the various inner and outer aspects of our lives—not just to the amount of oxygen we take in, but also to our ability to ward off disease, to think clearly, to sense and feel the needs and emotions that are motivating our behavior, and so on. Until we begin to have this understanding, and until we begin to have some experience of natural breathing, many breathing exercises can actually be detrimental to our health and well-being.”

One example that Lewis gives of how breathing exercises can be detrimental to our health is the many deep breathing exercises that people often do. “Deep breathing is not the panacea it is made out to be,” says Lewis, “especially when it is forced. Many people in today’s world don’t have sufficient body awareness, diaphragmatic strength, and breathing coordination to intentionally breathe deeply without hyperventilating. People who try to breathe deeply often end up by pulling their bellies in and trying to expand their chests, which is just a very inefficient and unhealthy form of shallow breathing, which speeds up the breathing rate. Such deep-breathing exercises improperly done in this or other ways can bring about even more hyperventilation and anxiety, weaken the diaphragm, and cause disharmony in the breathing muscles. In any case, our breathing was never intended to always be deep, but rather to be spontaneously and naturally responsive to the needs of the moment.”

PET Image of the human brain showing energy consumption

Educating Our Children to Deal With Stress

Knowing what we do about the ill effects of chronic stress, it is important to explore ways to reduce stress not only in our own personal lives, but also in the ways we raise and educate our children. Learning, especially learning from our so-called mistakes (which, of course, are frowned upon by many teachers), can be an enjoyable process that opens us to the world in and around us. When it is enjoyable, our brain functions in an optimal way and we seem to perceive and learn things more quickly and deeply. For many students, however, especially in elementary and high school where passing standardized tests is often the main objective, learning, even learning through physical education and sports, has ceased to be enjoyable and has instead become one more reason to get “stressed out.” “No pain, no gain” is the mantra of many elementary and high school gym teachers. In this regard, you might be interested in reading an article (first published in Somatics Magazine) by me entitled Physical Fitness—A New Approach, which recounts one of my own unsettling experiences in a high school gym class.

Given the increasing levels of stress in today’s world, and the many ways in which this stress is promoted through instant worldwide communication, part of our education should include teaching young people how to deal with stress when it arises in them. Sports and athletic programs aren’t much help here, since they most often promote competition and “winning” at all costs and very often at the expense of learning and enjoyment. They thus greatly contribute to the growing levels of stress in our children. One need only visit a little league baseball game or a high-school football game to see what happens to the kids, parents, and coaches in this environment. Winning and losing are indeed facts of life, and it is important to do the best we can in whatever we do, but it is how we deal with winning and losing, and our often unconscious attitudes toward them, that play an important role in determining our physical, emotional, and mental health.

Short of a radical transformation of our societal values, one of the most powerful methods of dealing with stress, which should be taught in schools worldwide, is deep relaxation through body awareness and natural breathing (what I sometimes refer to as “authentic breathing”). Body awareness through disciplines such as tai chi, qigong, and yoga, along with learning how to breathe in a natural, balanced way, would not only help improve the overall physical, emotional, and mental health of our children, but would also give them early on some of the basic tools they need for learning how to relax and function effectively in the midst of stressful situations.

Unfortunately, few teachers–in fact, few adults in general–are themselves able to relax deeply and breathe fully and naturally. The admonition to “take a deep breath and relax” that we hear so often from our teachers, politicians, friends, and parents not only rings hollow in most cases, but it also often results in fast shallow breathing, which only increases our already high levels of tension, anxiety, and stress. To breathe well in a state of dynamic relaxation, to learn how to experience the fullness of the “breath of life” that connects us all at a fundamental level, is to provide the living foundation for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

Copyright 2009 by Dennis Lewis