The power of breath

I’ve been doing a lot of deep breathing. I feel our world, as many of you do. I see what is disturbing, but I also get to see the beautiful hearts of so many souls working to live in love. I listen to the birds singing each day and marvel at the sweetness of their voices. It has been such a warm winter here in Arizona that tomatoes are growing, the basil never died, and, thankfully, my dear ones are still alive despite close calls. There is much to be thankful for. And still, I pause and breathe often.

When a piece of upsetting news finds its way into my life, I breathe. I imagine taking in all that is good, and as I exhale, I imagine my love rippling out into the world to all in need. It immediately brings calm.

When I feel wonderful, I breathe it in, amplify that good feeling, and then breathe it out—hoping my joy will ripple outward as well.

When I sit in 37-degree water a few times a week, the first thing I do is inhale sharply and exhale slowly to calm myself. After training myself for many years, I immediately drop into a deep state of meditation and peace. It is quite a thing to feel the cold and yet know the warmth within.

There is, of course, real biology behind this breathing. It stimulates the vagus nerve, which connects to the major organ systems in the body. Known as the “rest and digest” nerve, it calms the fight-or-flight response and signals safety to the body. This kind of breathing helps calm trauma, restore a sense of physical safety, and return the body to balance. As the system calms, we think more clearly.

Yet there is more beyond the physical that occurs with each calming breath. As our biology starts to relax, we become more open to the refined and coherent vibrations of spirit.

It is one of the easiest, quickest, and most effective things we can do to manage our physical and spiritual energies. I used to think breathwork was too simple to be worthwhile, and yet ove rtime, I’ve come to enjoy using the breath as a form of directing energy and managing my biology. You can too!

Here are a few ways that you can use your breath to help shift your body’s state, calm the mind, and open to the spiritual energies:

1.  Use Breath to Energize Yourself

If you feel sluggish, you can use faster breaths to help “rev up” your system. Yoga teaches a technique called Breath of Fire, which involves a rapid series of breaths in and out, using the stomach muscles. You can look it up on YouTube..

That said, you don’t even need a fancy sequence to wake yourself up. Just 30 seconds of consistent, reasonably paced breathing can do the trick..

When you have a moment, lie on the floor or prop yourself up in a comfy chair and experiment to find the perfect timing to energize your system. If you feel lightheaded, it’s probably too fast. If you still feel sluggish, try speeding it up a bit.

Once you discover your personal “wake-up breath,” it can be incredibly useful throughout the day whenever you need a little boost.

2. Develop “Vagal Tone.”

Vagal tone is a fancy way of saying you’ve learned to trigger your vagus nerve—the body’s “rest and digest” system. You can develop this quite easily by practicing the breathing the angels talked about in today’s newsletter..

Take a slow, deep breath in. Then allow the breath to flow out very slowly, as if you are a balloon gently deflating. Repeat until you feel your body begin to calm..

This kind of breathing gently vibrates the back of the throat, which stimulates the vagus nerve and helps calm the system.Om’ing, singing, and humming can do this as well.

The more often you stimulate your vagus nerve, the more quickly and easily your body learns to relax in the future..

3. Find Your Happy Breath

This is a fun little exercise..

Take a moment to think of something that makes you happy. It might be walking in nature, doing an activity you love, or being with a favorite person or pet. Remember how you feel in those moments..

As you do, notice your breathing. Pay attention to its depth and pace. Then see if you can consciously repeat that same breathing pattern. Experiment with different memories until you find a rhythm and depth of breath that brings those good feelings back into your body..

You can call it your happy breath if you like!

4. Cause a cascade of good chemistry

When I first heard an interview with Wim Hof, Ifelt like I was listening to a person society might have called slightly unhinged, but one who had discovered some deep truths. He preached the “gospel” of breathing, cold plunges, and mindset.

Apparently when he was fifteen and a spiritual seeker he was frustrated with not yet finding a state of profound connection even in spite of all his studies. One day he felt guided to go stand in a frozen pond. His breath took over, ahd to his surprise he felt a sense of unity with creation—the state he’d been seeking. He practiced the cold exposure and various breath methodologies until he developed a breathing technique that allowed him to control functions in his own body—like temperature—much as the yogi’s have done for centuries.

The effects of this breathing technique have since been scientifically studied in various labs and were shown to boost immune response and help a person exhibit a degree of control over parts of the nervous system previously thought to be outside of conscious control. If you’re interested, he has a guided video here. You may feel lightheaded while doing it so lay down or prop yourself up well. It is one of my go-to’s for morning wake up.

As a former electrical engineer, I believe that someday science will be able to measure the higher vibrational frequencies of spirit that so many of us experience—and show that a calm, coherent mind perceives them more easily. I believe that receiving guidance from spirit and the natural world is not as “woo-woo” as many think, and that it will someday be shown to have grounding in 3D reality. When the angels say that breath helps cycle life force through us, perhaps it is because a calm system can more accurately attune to subtle energies.

Whatever the explanation, I know that science has demonstrated the many positive effects of deep breathing, and my experience with spirit has proven to me that such calm allows me to perceive the information I receive from the angels, loved ones, and guides with far greater ease. When the world feels wild, I return to the breath, calm my system, and sit for a while basking in the flow of life force and angelic love until all is right in my world.

It is so simple, and yet so profound.