Breathing 1 & 2 - The extent of the breath without effort & the co-ordinating role of the breath and eyes
This post relates to the first two lessons in the breathing series - The links to the actual lessons alternate with each photo or GIF.
The lessons work with breathing and explore how it relates to the sense of being, the scope of our awareness and our ability to move and function.
We’re going to start with movement - freeing the head, neck & shoulders. We’ll explore the circular nature of their movements and how that relates to breath. It may also have an influence on how we transfer our weight when dancing.
Tully Dingle
It’s been quite a start to the year hasn’t it? Dancing may seem a long way away but it will be back.
It may be useful to consider the cycles of things in general along with the cycles of breath.
As you sit or stand in front of your device .. you are on a magnetic ball that rotates to the east at 1,670 kph. You’re also travelling 940,000,000 kilometres around the sun at a speed of 107,300 kph.
In 6 months time you’ll be 470,000,000 million kilometres away from where you are now. On top of that our whole Solar system is orbiting Galactic centre at 828,000 kilometres per hour!
We’re also cycling within.
Every one of our roughly 37 trillion cells are alive and most replace themselves every 7 to 10 years.
Red blood cells account for 25 trillion of those cells.
So small .. yet each red blood cell contains 270,000,000 million haemoglobin proteins and each of those can carry 4 oxygen molecules.
That means each red blood cell contains more than a billion molecules of oxygen! As you may see, breathing well is less about getting oxygen and more about having a good balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen so the oxygen can be used.
We are truly miraculous .. and breathing is the perfect vehicle to be aware of life on a macro and micro scale. The stillness required to ride the rhythm of your breath allows your attention to spread with a gentle yet sustained focus. How beautiful that is!
Umesh Soni Via UnSplash
It’s no wonder that awareness of breath features in all contemplative disciplines and no wonder that there are so many ( sometimes contradictory) ideas about how to breathe well.
We’ll begin in this first class with observing the way we do breathe rather than trying to impose anything. What is the natural rhythm of our breath? and what is the extent of our breath?
Macao photo agency Via UnSplash
This is an interesting image in regard to social distancing.
Is the manner of our breathing a result of the organisation of our body or our sense of self & world? or is it the other way?
How do thought and feeling influence the way we breathe? Of course it’s not the answers but the sustained enquiry that makes the difference.
Within the softness of our tissue and the tender weight of our experience our breath flows like a tide. It is our most intimate connection with the world. To become absorbed in the observation of breath is to create opportunities for reflection on the narratives that shape our existence.
Must it always be the way it has?
Everything is possible ..
Vyjayanthimala Gif - Tumblr
We are of course, indebted to the various contemplative, creative and martial traditions of the South, South East and Asian peoples of the world - for the detailed analysis of breathing they have created. We’ll also explore the work of a few Europeans during this series and of course it will all be within the context of Awareness Through Movement lessons.
This blog post relates to the first lesson of the Breathing series. You can find that lesson by clicking here for the first lesson and here for the second