“What’s the nature of the place? The proper approach to any kind of land use begins with that question. What is the nature of this place? And then: What will nature permit me to do here?... that way of thinking continues in the work of some modern agriculturalists... whose approach is to ask what the nature of the place is, what nature would be doing here if left alone. What will nature permit me to do here without damage to herself or to me? What will nature help me to do here?”

Wendell Berry

Two Breath Meditations

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Here are two breath meditations to explore. The first is performed sitting in a chair; the second, lying on the floor. You can read them here to yourself, or order the Somatic Explorations, Vol. 1 CD on the Products page. Have a good journey, and enjoy your breath!

Three-dimensional Breathing

Sit comfortably in a chair. Start by checking in with your deepening breath, a rising spine and an easy jaw. The fullness of the breath in the belly helps stabilize your pelvic bowl, as your center of gravity descends. This stability creates the foundation for your spine to extend upwards effortlessly. The back of your neck rises as the front of your face eases downwards and the lips open slightly to let your jaw soften.

Begin by focusing on the vertical dimension of breathing - the up and down. Extend the duration of your inhale to fully feel the length of this dimension. With each breath, your diaphragm presses down towards the pelvic floor, towards your rectum, and with each exhale, floats back up towards the head. As you sense your diaphragm moving down on the inhale, the lungs are also filling up, creating an upward movement in your body. Each inhale lengthens, each exhale shortens (not collapses) the verticality of your body. Do this for about 10-12 conscious repetitions, and then move into open attention, allowing your body to settle into its own breath expression. Notice what is happening internally during this effortless, receptive awareness.

Now, focus on the sagittal dimension – the forward and backward. Start with your belly. With each inhale, focus on both your belly and lower back swelling forwards and backwards into space simultaneously. On the exhale, they both recede back to the centerline. Do this several times. As you continue the fullness of your inhale, begin to include awareness of your upper body, your chest moving forward into space, and your back extending into the backspace. Do this for about 10-12 conscious repetitions. Then, shift into open attention again.

Now, focus attention on the horizontal dimension – the movement sideways. Begin by noticing the opening of your ribcase out to the sides with each inhale, and then closing back in on each exhale. As you settle into that repeated action, begin to include an awareness of your pelvic halves at the sacrum opening and closing laterally. And finally, add your shoulders and shoulder blades widening and narrowing with each breath cycle. After this focus, return to open attention.

Finally, bring all three dimensions into action simultaneously. Repeat for a while, and periodically return to open attention, so there is a rhythm between purposeful action and spacious rest. Every now and then, create small movements in response to the sensations you notice so your body doesn’t become rigid in the stillness.

The 4 Diaphragms

Begin by lying down on the floor. Rub the palms of your hands together to generate heat, and lay the heels of the hands down in your eye sockets as the fingers spread out on the skull. Let the heat from the hands soak down into the eyes, refreshing and soothing them. Breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Each breath you take expands the skull bones a tiny bit, creates a ripple through the supporting brain fluids and the tissue.

Now, let the hands slide down to the upper chest, feeling the hands rise and sink on each inhale-exhale cycle. Focus on the movement of the breastbone, or sternum. Empty out fully to create a valley; inhale fully to create a ridge. The breath is the movement of life, generating new landforms, wave motions, frequencies of thought, feeling and perception.

Now, bring the hands down to the sides of the rib case, where the ribs open out to the side. In your right hand is the lower lobe of the right lung and the liver; in your left hand, is the lower lobe of the left lung, and the stomach and spleen. With each inhale-exhale cycle, notice the lateral movement of the breath, moving out to the sides on the inhale, and coming back to center on the exhale. Begin to stretch your capacity to inhale in this dimension by extending the duration of the inhale beyond your ordinary range...and then let it go, lingering in the emptiness after the exhale until the next impetus to take in arises.

Now, let the hands slide down to the belly. With each inhale, notice the roundness and fullness of the belly as it swells and rises to the ceiling and simultaneously spreads out on the floor. With each exhale, feel the belly condense. Inhale-exhale...

Now, pay attention to the depth of the sustained inhale as it presses downward into the pelvic floor, all the way into your genitals and rectum, and then let it go. There is a bit of a rebound, like waves lapping up against a seawall, and then drifting back out. Feel into the rhythmic flow of this action. Once again, extend your capacity through extending the duration of the inhale cycle to its maximum occupancy.

Now, bring together the four places of the breath by conscious attention to the unobstructed flow of breath from belly to pelvis and rib case and chest and skull, maximizing the fullness of the torso on the inhale and the emptiness on the exhale. Experiment with this for at least six breath cycles.

Now, let go. Let the body breath itself in its own way. Rest in the movement of the breath passing in and out of the body.

Selection from “Restoring Original Grace: Movement as Medicine,” a work-in-progress by Jamie McHugh. All rights reserved.

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Jamie McHugh.