May/June 2002 Alternative Health
Life-Breath - Breathing Lessons

by Sheila King

To be alive, to be human ... is to breathe. The first thing we do after birth is to breathe. The last thing we do before death is to breathe. Breath is our connection to life, to Spirit. Sometimes our breath is full and deep.

Sometimes it is shallow, light. At times we even hold our breath. Many factors affect our breathing rhythms. Motion and emotion are the ones that we notice the most. We breathe automatically in response to movement of our bodies and the need for oxygen. We have choice about our breath's response to emotion. Fear and tension tend to suppress our breath. Great fear can cause us to hold our breath completely.

Hawaiians call us Haolis. This goes back to the early days when mainlanders came to the islands and the ancient Hawaiians, entrenched with the Huna focus on breath, noticed that we didn't breathe deeply. Haoli means one who does not breathe deeply. They noticed we carried more tension in our bodies. We were not as relaxed, as present.

This is true not just for us, but for many in this fast-paced world... and, that takes a great toll. The act of suppressing our breath keeps us from cleansing on a cellular level. 75% of all toxins are expelled on our breath. What happens when we seldom breath deeply enough to do cellular house cleaning? Those toxins build up within our cells ... physical toxins and emotional toxins as well.

As humans here on Earth we have a wonderful system to help us cope. I call it "save it for later". When we are faced with emotional pain too great to handle at any one time it is saved for later, actually stored on a cellular level. Having it pushed down to an unconscious level allows us to bear greater pain and get on with our lives. It is sometimes the only way we can survive. This is the mechanism that helps a tiny child deal with great abuse, a prisoner of war maintain sanity and the rest of us cope with the challenges of our lives. This ability is a great gift in our lives ... for a time.

Eventually our cells become overburdened with both emotional and physical toxins. We become depressed. We become ill.

Healing, cleansing can be as simple as breathing. The simple act of breathing can release the stored emotional and physical toxins. Life-Breath™ is a breathing technique that cleanses on a cellular and energetic level. It is a specific way of breathing ... deeper, faster, without pauses. Breathing in this manner builds up powerful energy in the body. This energy and oxygen sweeps through the body on a cellular level, doing cellular house-cleaning. So simple. So powerful. Something anyone can learn to do for themselves.

A breath coach can get you started, sit with you through the first sessions and help you feel totally safe. The average session is an hour and a half to two and one half hours. This allows time for re-integration. A breath session can leave you feeling more alive than ever before, filled with a sense of true connection and love of self from the inside.  I have found it to be a profoundly powerful way of healing and growing.

Sheila has been a breath coach since 1984, studying with Leonard Orr, Sondro Rae and Stan Grof. She can be contacted at 503-244-0121.