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By Root 680 0

conservation, transformation, and use of the energies of the earth, atmosphere, sun, moon, and stars—has its counterpart in the metabolism of our inner world, in the movement and transformation of food, air, and energy. To begin to sense the interrelationships and rhythms of the various functions of one’s own body—of one’s skin, muscles, bones, organs, tissues, nerves, fluids, hormones, emotions, and thoughts—is to experience the energies and laws of life itself. As Lao Tzu says: “Without leaving his house, he knows the whole world. Without looking out of his window, he sees the ways of heaven.”

Whether or not we agree with this vision of our organism as a microcosm of the universe, the work of self-sensing will quickly show us that the rhythms of breathing—of inhalation and exhalation—lie at the heart of our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. We will see that it is through the sensory experience of these rhythms that we can awaken our inner sensitivity and awareness and begin to open ourselves to our inner healing powers—the creative power of nature itself. But for this to occur, our breathing must change from “normal” to “natural”; it must become free from the unconscious motivations and constraints of our self-image.

PERCEPTUAL REEDUCATION AND WHOLENESS

Our faulty patterns of breathing have developed over many years and are tied in closely with our self-image, with our individual patterns of illusion, avoidance, and forgetfulness. As a result, correcting them is not just a matter of applying the right techniques. Nor is it just a matter of going to a physical therapist or other body work practitioner to learn proper breathing mechanics, as we might go to an auto mechanic to fix a faulty carburetor or muffler. It is, rather, a matter of perceptual reeducation, of learning how to experience ourselves in an entirely new way, and from an entirely new perspective.

The etymology of the verb to heal is related to the verb to make whole. To become whole, however, it is first necessary, as Gurdjieff says, to know that I am not whole—to sense my dis-ease, to actually see and come to terms with my imbalance, my fragmentation, my illusions, my contradictions, and my incomplete sensation of myself. Self-healing thus begins with awareness and acceptance of “what is,” of the living reality of my psychosomatic structure—the ways in which my thoughts, emotions, and sensations interact with my chemistry, physiology, and psychology. The awareness of “what is,” however, is not something I can bring about by force. It depends on discovering a dimension in myself of inner quiet, of inner clarity—a clear, uncolored lens through which I can observe myself without any judgment, criticism, or analysis. This inner clarity, which Gurdjieff calls “presence,” is both a precondition and a result of work with sensation and breath.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THE BREATH

One of the very first steps of this work, therefore—a step that on no account must be skipped—is to learn how to “follow,” to sense, the movements of our breath without interfering with them or trying to change them in any way. This work of following—which is left out of many teachings and therapies—provides the stable foundation of inner perception required for sensing the various mechanisms involved in breathing, as well as observing the physical, emotional, and mental forces acting on them. As Ilse Middendorf, one of the great pioneers in breath therapy, has pointed out, it is by perceiving our breath as it comes and goes that we discover an opening into our own unconscious life, and bring about a conscious expansion into the whole of ourselves.12 It is my experience that this expansion of awareness, this conscious “welcoming” of everything that we are, lies at the heart of deep, inner quiet and relaxation—an organic release from the stranglehold of our self-image, and from the excessive tension, stress, and negativity in our inner and outer lives. It is this welcoming that is the foundation of wholeness, of real health.

LISTENING TO THE BODY

Learning