“Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment – the key to all inner transformation. Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present. You may also notice that you cannot think and be aware of your breathing. Conscious breathing stops your mind.”
Eckart Tolle
Stress Relief Through Breathwork Meditation
by Kris Cassidy
Founder of Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation
If you are like most people you experience some kind of stress on a daily basis. For some the level of daily stress can be debilitating. The American Institute of Stress says that stress is America’s number one health problem. It’s been estimated that 75 – 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems. And it has been medically proven that stress has a direct impact on the immune system.
So, how can you manage the stress in your life? World-renowned cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish says that deep breathing is the best form of stress management known to man.
As the founder of Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation, one of the questions I get asked the most is “How does Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation help with managing stress and stress related ailments such as depression, anxiety and chronic pain?
Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation is a simple and powerful way to use breathing to activate your own healing energy and life force, and to release stress on a cellular level. It supports physical, emotional and mental healing, as you simultaneously connect more to spirit. And by oxygenating your blood through breathwork you can enjoy greater vitality and the health benefits of increased detoxification.
I believe Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation is a most powerful tool for stress management. In just one 90-minute session of Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation you can experience a deep calm, and a feeling of inner peace and wellbeing. Many clients have told me that after just one session they felt the most relaxed they’d ever felt in their life.
Don’t let stress ruin your life, your health and your relationships. Find the peace and relief that you deserve and need now. To learn more about Breakthrough Breathwork Meditation, to find out about upcoming Breathworkshops in your area, or to bring a Breathworkshop to your area, visit breakthroughbreathwork.com.
And take a nice deep breath.
I’ve been thinking about what to write on my blog each day hoping to find something to write about other than the situation we are in with Covid-19. But what keeps coming to me is that this is the time for me to journal and share about my life during this time period. Today is March 24 and I can only imagine what everyone in the world is experiencing. For me, I can feel the connection of the people of the world, that we are all one within the human race, and we are all going through the same situation and crisis together, wherever we live.
Chapter 1
It’s now March 24 and I’m going to start with January. Although I don’t have to many vivid memories of that month since it seemed to be quite a normal month, so to speak. In looking over the month of January in my calendar book I can understand why it seems so nondescript. Being semi-retired, my days unfold mostly according to what I feel doing each day and January didn’t have so much activity going on.
The month of January was cold, so I wasn’t able to go out for my morning walk too often. I love my morning walks in the neighborhood. One route takes me up a local street that has quite and incline, getting my heart going and great exercise for my legs. That’s a mile and a half walk. The other favorite I have is a 2 mile walk where I travel the road with a gradual increase for at least a mile, also pumping my heart and giving me some great leg activity. I listen to a podcast while I’m walking by Mike Rowe “The Way I Heard It” and really enjoy this time alone. A number of times during the month my husband, Kris, and I would go out and hike at a few local trails in the foothills of the Rockies (I live in Colorado).
Given that I facilitate a breathing meditation practice, I did have a few days in the month of January where I gave some session and also coached and supported one of the facilitators that Kris and I recently trained. Along with that, the other so called “work” activity I have is to do some management of our rental properties. Not much work, really, as we have a management company on hand for most things. I enjoy knowing how our tenants are doing and like to be apprised of things from time to time.
Aside from what I just explained, those work activities maybe took up on average 4-5 hours a week. So what else did I do? I am enjoying pottery. There’s a local pottery studio 1/2 mile from my house, close enough to walk to weather permitting. Once I week I am immersed in one focus for 3 1/2 hours. Sometimes I go more often than once a week. Total attention on throwing pottery, never quite knowing what each piece with turn out to be even if I start with an idea. I’m a novice, only been doing this for a year, but man, I am addicted. It’s the best place to be to put my mind aside for a long period of time and pay attention to one thing. It’s a great way to meditate. I realized not too long ago how much I love to create and this is such a wonderful avenue for this energy I have to do something creative with my hands, my mind, my ideas.
One other thing that occupied our time was the planning of a vacation. We found an amazing place, by recommendation of a friend, called Yelapa. Located on the coast of Mexico about a 45 minute boat taxi ride from Puerto Vallarta. Along with plans to Mexico, we made plans to go visit our kids and grandkids in California at the end of the Mexico trip. So there was excitement in the air as we talked about our travel time.
One of my favorite things of enjoyment is to relax in my home with the wood-burning fireplace emanating heat throughout our home. Hunkering down inside during the cold days isn’t something I mind. However, having a wonderful fire glowing in the fireplace from morning to early evening is delightful and we basically had the fire going all of January.
The corona virus epidemic (not a pandemic yet) hadn’t come so much into my attention early in January, but as the month moved on more information started to surface about the situation in China. The information was shocking. I’m trying to remember how I may have been affected by the news and the most I can remember is that I felt so bad for the people that were being affected, how out of control things were in that area of the world and it was happening to them-so far away. I didn’t so much think about when and how it would spread around the world. However, as it got closer to our trip I began to wonder if maybe it wasn’t the best idea to travel. I hadn’t yet been hit by the reality of what was happening and hadn’t even begun to think about what was possible to come out of this virus in China.
I took Sunday off from writing. Like to keep Sunday’s open from anything other than chilling.
Bit of a blank today as I find myself stunned again at the predicament we are all in. On the one hand, and for the most part, I am able to just be with the fact that this is what’s happening and so it goes. I can stay calm within the uncertainty, do my part in keeping myself safe and isolated-for myself and others. Help in whatever ways possible. I can get beyond my mind and all the stories and concerns and worries that want to surface.
On the other hand, moments of fear creep in-fear of the unknown, of what things will be like when this is all over. What will the world be like, what will everything be like.
Remember to take some deep breaths. To sit for even 5 minutes during your day to be still, put your attention on your normal pace of breathing and allow yourself to relax and get beyond the mind even for a few minutes each day. It’s worth it.
Love to you all!
“I know this. When this ends – AND IT WILL – every game will sell out, every restaurant will have a 2-hour wait, every kid will be glad to be in school, everyone will love their job, the stock market will skyrocket, every other house will get TP’d, and we’ll all embrace and shake hands. That’s gonna be a pretty good day. Hang in there, World.”
I read this quote this morning that made some inspirational sense. Hopefully this will happen, but I’d like to add some more to this, however, as I have a strong feeling and actually pray that we all may come through this challenge having learned much more about our true nature, our desire to be connected to ourselves and each other from love and not separation. That we, the people of the world, can find something within us that brings the world together in love and peace and the senseless suffering of people can stop.
My prayer has many facets. First is that I hope the world can come to realize gratitude. One of my favorite quotes is “Gratitude is the open door to abundance”. And I know that might not be easy for some as life circumstances seem rather dismal for many right now. But there is always something to be grateful for and even the tiniest thing that you find can open the door to abundance of peace, love and calm.
I hope that we all find a very deep and lasting knowing that wee are all one, the same heart, the same longings, the same desire for love. Maybe this challenge we all face right now can pour more light and love, compassion and friendship into the world. I have such a hope that maybe this pandemic, where the entire world is experiencing the same difficulty, can end with more peace. Peace within each person, peace in relationships, peace in families, peace in cities, peace in countries.
I hope that everyone can take the time right now to slow down internally. It’s an uncertain time. I hope that each of you can take time each day to sit quietly and go within and reach a space of calm. That you trust how it is you are pulled to meditate-whether it’s through breathwork, through putting on music that moves you and letting go to the music, through quiet meditation. I meditate in different ways, but now that I am not distracted by much of the outside environment while I am social distancing, I have rekindled my practices and am finding time to meditate twice a day. Sometimes it’s for 10 minutes, sometimes for an hour. I can say it is helping me stay calmer and accept what’s happening. It really is helping me when I through times of anxiety and fear of the unknown along with the deep feelings that arise in my heart that make me cry as I have concern for everyone.
I send you all love.
The greatest pleasure of life is love.
Euripides
I’d like to visit the action of blame. After many years of my own personal journey to know myself, I’ve just recently seen the depth of where and how I have blamed something or someone outside of myself in order to take away my pain, anger, resentment, upset, frustration.
Somehow the lights just went on, showing me how the behavior of blame never is the solution to the problem.
Here’s a quote from Wayne Dyer that I think nails it!
“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him/her, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him/her, but you won’t succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy.”
Through conscious connecting the breath, the focus of attention is guided into the body. As the breath unfolds we meet all the “folds” that are in our way. You could say that the “folds” are the blockages in the body-mind.
Focusing on our breathing helps us not to identify with what we are feeling and/or thinking, so that we don’t have to drown in our feelings. We become able to breathe continuously whatever we think or feel and thus centre ourselves in “the here and now”.
We begin to notice that we are not our feelings and that there is something in us that’s “bigger” than all of our drama. We are enabled to observe what’s happening from an aware ego position and to feel enough safety, in which we can integrate our past hurts and pains. We stop feeling like victims.
There is a deep sense of peace the moment we can let go of our judgements. Deep inside us we know -in a nearly indescribable way- that we made a connection with our own true being. This is the process we call ecstasy when consciousness frees itself from limiting thoughts, judgements and convictions and we are no longer identified with them. We are able to “stand by” and perceive. Our bodies don’t lie. We can feel the truth. The blocked energy starts to flow freely again physically and mentally. New possibilities of choice occur. This process may happen very quietly or with a great sense of euphoria.
When energy is prevented from flowing, consciousness disappears. Where energy flows, consciousness steps in.
Tilke Platteel-Deur, Breathwork Practitioner
During my 2 hour massage today I set myself up to do a breathwork session for at least the first hour of the massage. I have done this before, where I let the massage therapist know that I’m going to be focused on my breathing so they can support me.
I’ve done a breathwork session a few other times during massage and love what happens. While keeping my focus on my breath, connecting breathing, I find that the therapist can go deeper into my body as I breath through what might feel uncomfortable-and as I am focused on my breathing I find that my body also naturally relaxes and opens up more to allow a deeper massage to happen.
For me, doing breathwork while getting a massage allows energy to move more easily through my body and especially when the therapist hits a spot that is tense or blocked or where I am holding on to something in my body. When I breath through the uncomfortableness of the pressure and let go of any resistance there seems to be a release of energy. Not only physically, but I experienced a few moments of letting go in the release by crying.
Breathwork, whether during a massage or just a regular session is such a wonderful way to open up, to let go of tension, to release emotions and allow our natural healing energy to work with us for deep emotional and physical healing along with connecting more deeply to our true nature.