The Tao of Natural Breathing_ For Health, Well-Being, and Inner Growth - Dennis Lewis [38]
Whatever theoretical framework we may choose for understanding our work with breath, each breath we take is filled not only with the nutrients and energies we need for life, but also with the expansive, open quality of space. It is this quality of spaciousness, if we allow it to enter us, that can help us open to deeper levels of our own being and to our own inner powers of healing. In spite of its simplicity, however, spacious breathing is not an easy practice to learn. Years of conditioning and “ignor-ance” have left us not only with many bad breathing habits, but, perhaps even more importantly, with little kinesthetic awareness of our own physical structure, and with how this structure hinders or supports our breathing. Without this inner sensation of our structure, any attempt to impose a new way of breathing—whether yogic, Taoist, or any other form—on our organism can only lead to confusion, and, potentially, further problems.
PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSTACLES TO AUTHENTIC BREATHING
Once we begin to get in touch with the sensation of this structure, however, we will begin to become aware of the mental and emotional forces acting on our breath, on our own particular rhythms of inhalation and exhalation. This is a crucial aspect of any serious work with breathing, since it will show us the psychological obstacles to discovering our own authentic breath.
Our Inability to Exhale Fully
According to Magda Proskauer, a psychiatrist and pioneer in breath therapy, one of the main obstacles “to discovering one’s genuine breathing pattern” is the inability that many of us have to exhale fully. Whereas inhalation requires a certain amount of tension, exhalation requires letting go of this tension. Full inhalation without full exhalation is impossible. It is important, therefore, to see what stands in the way of full exhalation. For many of us, what stands in the way is often what is no longer necessary in our lives. Proskauer points out that “Our incapacity to exhale naturally seems to parallel the psychological condition in which we are often filled with old concepts and long-since-consumed ideas, which, just like the air in our lungs, are stale and no longer of any use.”43,44 She makes it clear that in order to exhale fully we need to learn how to let go “of our burdens, of our cross which we carry on our shoulders.” By letting go of this unnecessary weight, we allow our shoulders and ribs to relax, to sink downward into their natural position instead of tensing upward. Full exhalation follows quite naturally.
Our Inability to Inhale Fully
Those of us who are unable to exhale fully in the normal circumstances of our lives are obviously unable to inhale fully as well. In full inhalation, which originates in the lower breathing space and moves gradually upward through the other spaces, one’s abdomen, lower back, and rib cage must all expand. This, as we have seen in earlier chapters, helps the diaphragm, which is attached all around the bottom of the rib cage and anchored to the spine in the lumbar area, to achieve its full range of movement downward. For this to happen, the muscles and organs involved in breathing must be in a state of dynamic harmony, free from unnecessary tension. But this expansion is not just a physical phenomenon, it is also a psychological one. It depends on both the wish and the ability to engage fully with our lives, to take in new impressions of ourselves and the world.
Freedom To Embrace the Unknown
Full exhalation and inhalation are thus most possible when we are free enough to let go of the known and embrace the unknown. In full exhalation, we empty ourselves—not just of carbon dioxide, but also of old tensions, concepts, and feelings. In full inhalation, we renew ourselves—not just with new oxygen,