Breathe Into Being: Awakening To Who You Really Are
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
The Mystery of Ourselves 9
A Sense of Infinite Potential 13
Working with Your Breath Begins with Awareness 14
Check in on Your Breathing 15
Our Breath Connects Us with All of Life 17
Our Breath Connects Our Inner and Outer Worlds 18
The Freedom of Simple Presence 19
We Can Only Find Meaning and Happiness Now and Here 21
Learning to Live in the Present Moment 22
What Do You Really Want? 24
The Longing for Relationship 25
Following Your Inhalation and Exhalation 26
Being Inspired and Expired 27
The Importance of Breathing through Your Nose 28
Breathing and Walking 30
Carbon Dioxide Regulates Our Breathing 31
The World of Sensation 32
Densities of Sensation 34
Finding a Comfortable, Erect Sitting Posture 35
Going Deeper through the Sensation of Your Breath 37
Becoming Free from Your Automatic Thoughts and Emotional Reactions 38
Do Less and Listen More 38
Contradictory Motivations 40
Self-Sensing and the Breath 42
Breathing Inside the Sensation of Yourself 44
Following Your Breath into Silence 45
Sensing the Welcoming Presence 46
What Was Your Original Face? 47
Living with the Questions 48
Touching the Unknown in Ourselves 49
Looking toward the No-Thing that You Are 50
Noticing that You Often Hold Your Breath 51
Frequent Breath Holding Reveals a Fundamental Disharmony 52
Following Your Breath through the Transitions in Your Life 53
Your Body Has Many Breathing Spaces 54
Observing the Tension in Your Eyes, Face, and Throat 56
Becoming More Aware of Your Eyes 57
Relaxing Your Eyes 58
Becoming More Aware of Your Jaw and Throat 59
Relaxing Your Jaw and Throat 60
Awakening Your Center of Gravity in the Breathing Space of the Belly 62
Allowing Your Belly to Expand and Retract on Inhalation and Exhalation 63
Finding Your True Center of Gravity with the Earth’s Help 64
Feeling Your Weight Being Supported by the Earth 66
Tension in Your Pelvic Floor Muscles Impedes Your Connection to the Earth 67
Constrictions in Your Pelvic Floor Muscles Impede Your Breathing 69
Squatting to Become More Aware of Your Pelvic Muscles 70
Working with Your Perineum to Open up Your Breathing 71
Breathing from Your Pelvic Floor 72
Living in Front of Ourselves 74
Sensing Your Spine 76
Hug Yourself 77
Organic Relaxation 79
Awakening the Spine 80
Stretching, Breathing, and Opening from Your Core 82
The “Vitruvian Man” Position 83
The Smile of Compassion 85
Smile, Stretch, and Breathe 86
Negativity: A Rejection of What Is 88
The Childhood Breath 89
The Diaphragm: the Spiritual Muscle 91
How the Diaphragm Works 93
How Your Belly Impacts Your Diaphragm 94
Learning to Listen to the Functioning of the Diaphragm 96
Filling a Cup that Is Already Full 98
Exhaling Consciously 100
The Emptiness of Presence 101
Common Obstacles to Working with Your Breath 102
Releasing Constrictions and Increasing Energy in the Upper Chest and Spine 104
Being Lifted by the Breath of Presence 106
We Are Two-Natured Beings 108
The Conscious Body 110
Connecting Heaven and Earth 111
Awakening to Who You Already Are 114
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