TWV Presents...



Articles/Essays From Pagans

[Show all]

Views: 9,881,947
November 15th. 2009 ...
 Recovering From a Bad Coven Experience
 You Are Not A Tool
 The Dangers of Virtual Reality and Magickal Life: A True Story
 Diary of a High Priestess
 When Religious Intolerance Destroys Friendship
 Thinking With Your Heart
 Beauty in Death
 In that Moment: “Understanding Born From Sorrow”
 Raining Down A Different Kind of Peace

November 8th. 2009 ...
 Why Many of Us Will Never Be Christian (No Matter How Hard We Try)
 Making Your Life Magical
 Soul Connection: The Means to Finding Your Life Purpose
 How I Met My Soul Mate. Twice
 Perfect Love and Perfect Trust: Thoughts on Love and Loving
 Love and the Use Of Magick
 Spiritual Transformation
 Follow the Yellowbrick Road: Sometimes Staying on the Path Takes a Miracle!
 The Path: A Spiritual Chautauqua

November 1st. 2009 ...
 My Magic Doesn't Work! (Because It Sometimes Doesn't)
 Avoiding the Pitfalls of Paganism
 The Breath and Faking It
 Coming Out Of The "Broom Closet"
 Profound Fruit Loops
 Magick and Science
 I Want To Live A While Longer
 "Me Time"

October 25th. 2009 ...
 Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone Touring East Coast USA for Samhain
 Lemon Magic
 My Black Kitty
 Autumnland: Pagan Path and Paradise
 The Modern Coven: Importance of Documentation
 Crossroads Rite (Version 11)
 Perceptions of Life
 The Challenge of Acceptance
 The Circle of Life

October 18th. 2009 ...
 Honoring Our Elders, Leaders and Teachers
 Group or Solitary: Which Is Best For You?
 Space Clearing: A Fresh Look at a Classic Tradition
 Which Witch is Which? The Importance of Scientific Terminology.
 Soap Making 101
 How I Maintain My Spiritual Practice in a War Zone
 To Be or Not To Be – In Pagan Business
 "Fusion" Magick

October 11th. 2009 ...
 Italy, Clavicles and Witchcraft
 The Fairies of Samhain
 Horns of Gold, Horns of Red: The God as a Sacred Focus
 The Veil as Seen Through the Eyes of a Witch
 Owl Mythology, Folklore, and Magical Interpretation
 A Celtic "Young Goodman Brown"

October 4th. 2009 ...
 What Should I Put In My Book of Shadows?
 How Do You Draw Your Pentagram?
 Your Book Of Shadows
 How I Became a Wiccan
 Five-Point Witches’ Self-Healing Plan
 The Responsiblity of Elders of Pagan Paths
 My Curse
 Thoughts on Death
 Dinosaurs and Druidry

September 27th. 2009 ...
 When I Was A Christian Wiccan
 Shamanism: Seeing in the Dark
 Dream Invasion: What It Is and How to Stop it
 The Warrior Archetype and the Reemergence of the Goddess
 Twittermancy and Open Sourcery
 Past Life, Present Mission
 The Burning Times: May We Never Forget
 Ophiuchus, the 13th Constellation: A Call for Change
 Changes: Facing Them and Making Them

September 20th. 2009 ...
 How I Found My Craft Name (and Tips on Finding Yours!)
 Life Without End: Death From A Pagan Perspective
 Creating Your Reality
 My Road To Wicca
 Officiating At A Crossing Over Ceremony
 The Energy of My Beliefs
 Tree of Life in Wicca
 My Life Entwined With Death
 The Curious Case of Birds
 Who Sings Now? XVIII

September 13th. 2009 ...
 Yes Witches Can? Yes, Witches WILL!
 Coven or Solitary: Age Old Question. A Few New Answers (I Hope!)
 Organized Pagan Community: Good Idea Or Hopeless Cause?

NOTE: For a complete list of articles related to this chapter... Visit the Main Index FOR this section.
|
|  |


Article Specs

Article ID: 13605

VoxAcct: 360043

Section: words

Age Group: Adult

Days Up: 20
Times Read: 1,636

RSS Views: 12,609
| The Breath and Faking It

Author: Josie
Posted: November 1st. 2009
Times Viewed: 1,636
A few months ago, I had a break-through in my meditation practice. It was one of those “duh” moments when I finally realized and 'grokked' something that now seems so simple and makes me wonder why I didn’t know it all along.
I’m a periodic insomniac. It’s nothing new. I remember being 3 years old and unable to fall asleep. As an adult, once every five or six weeks it hits me for several days. Nothing I do or don’t do helps.
My husband is the opposite. He can announce that he’s going to sleep and within 90 seconds I hear snores from his side of the bed or the sofa or the car. Over the years, he’s told me how he does it, but his advice had never helped. It never made sense to me.
One night, a few months ago, I was wide-awake around 3 a.m. Everyone in the room, but me, was asleep. We co-sleep, so both babies were in the room with us. Imagine being immersed in the thick alpha waves of three deeply sleeping people and not being able to join them. I admit I was jealous of their snores. Relaxation techniques, meditation, visualization and even making up stories did not work, and I knew I was in for a long sleepless night. Since our youngest was only two months old, I couldn’t even get up to read. My movement would waken him, and he needed his sleep.
I lay there, not sleeping, listening to the deep breathing of the baby. If you have ever watched a baby sleep, to say that a sleeping baby breathes deep is an understatement. A baby breathes with his entire body, and even more so in sleep. His belly fills up like a balloon and empties out as if deflated. “A complete breath” is the expression that comes to mind. To me a baby has a more natural breath than an adult. They don’t carry as much stress or tension in their bodies. Their diaphragms aren’t constricted and tight from lack of use. There are not tension knots in their throats. Their breath, I would think, is closer to how our breath is supposed to be.
That night, I started noticing the pattern of my babies’ breathing. There is no interruption or pause between the inhalation and the exhalation; it is a smooth in and out. Then there is a slight pause before they draw in another breath. Their breath goes something like this: in and out, slight pause, in and out, slight pause. The pause is not long, maybe a half a second to a second at most.
Babies are nose breathers, inhaling and exhaling through the nostrils. The breath is deep, expanding both the lungs and diaphragm completely. Their entire body moves up and down with each breath.
Now, I’m not a person who naturally breathes deeply. A friend of mine has said that I merely ventilate myself. My breath, I admit, is generally shallow. It takes an hour of yoga or thirty minutes of deep meditation to make my diaphragm relax and my breath deepen without force or focus.
Lying there that night listening to my babies breathe, I don’t know why, but I forced myself to imitate them. At first it was hard. I was using parts of my lungs I don’t normally use and stretching my diaphragm more than it’s used to. After a couple of minutes, it grew easier, sooner than I had expected. I lay there, breathing in and breathing out, as deep as I could. Breathing in and breathing out, mimicking the breath of little babies.
Next thing I knew, it was morning, and I had slept through the rest of the night. Wow, I thought. What happened? The next night, still sleepless, I tried it again. And again, I feel asleep.
I had always thought that deep breathing was a product of physical and mental relaxation brought on by meditation or yoga. When I forced it, as I did, it was neither comfortable nor relaxing. It did not feel natural. Rather, it was strenuous, awkward and difficult. Why, I used to wonder, would I begin my meditation by doing something that is physically hard. It was easier for me to enter an alpha state through mental focus and relax my body, which naturally deepens my breath, than initially to focus on breathing deeply. Was I wrong?
Over the next several weeks, what I discovered with my nightly experiments was that, while forcing my breath to mimic that of a sleeper, even though it was not occurring naturally and was uncomfortable and awkward, it forced my mind and body into a sleep pattern. Faking the breath faked out the mind and body and produced the mental state I wanted.
I tried this new outlook on breathing in other facets. Paying attention to my breath while I was meditated, I noticed how it was different from the breath of sleep. When meditating, there is an added pause, at least for me, between inhalation and exhalation. It went something like: in, pause, out, pause.
My realization made me think of the meditation guides I read long ago saying to focus on the breath. I thought they meant as a foci, as something to concentrate on in order to relax the mind. I didn’t realize it was also a way to learn what your breath is like while meditating in order to reproduce the physical and mental effects using only the breath – no foci necessary.
During ritual I can use my breath to force myself into a deeper alpha state, which is better to feel and control ritual energies. During trance work, when I find myself distracted, the utilization of breath can bring the mind back to the trance.
My discovery that deep breathing, even if awkward and uncomfortable, still leads the body and mind to the desired destination has deepened my meditation practice and trance-work. I am now able to meditate, even when my mind, at first, does not want to focus. An added benefit is that my breathing is now naturally deeper than before, which has physical as well as mental and emotional advantages. Plus, my sleepless nights are now rare – well, except for when the baby keeps me up.
Copyright: Written in 2007. Also published as MotherBear in ADF's Oakleaves #43 Winter 2008.

ABOUT...

Josie
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
 Author's Profile: To learn more about Josie - Click HERE

Other Articles: Josie has posted 4 additional articles- View them?
 Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE

Email Josie... (No, I have NOT opted to receive Pagan Invites! Please do NOT send me anonymous invites to groups, sales and events.)

|
|
Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2009 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.
Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.
Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.
Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.
Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.
|  |
Witches, Pagans of The World



|


Current Topic
Editorial Guide
NOTE: The essay on this page contains the writings and opinions of the listed author(s) and is not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Witches' Voice inc.
The Witches' Voice does not verify or attest to the historical accuracy contained in the content of this essay.
All WitchVox essays contain a valid email address, feel free to send your comments, thoughts or concerns directly to the listed author(s).
|
|