CONSCIOUS DEEP BREATHING
Conscious Deep Breathing is a system devised by Dee Greenberg which is based on the breathing practices of yoga which date back many thousands of years. This practice can be learned in just a few minutes and within a short time the practitioner may be elevated into a meditative state of awareness.
Conscious Deep Breathing is the ideal foundational practice for anyone on a meditative path or for those seeking to master the art of meditation. It is also ideal for anyone who simply needs to calm their mind and learn to relax.
The beauty of this practice is that it is based on the physiology of the human nervous system. Therefore it is the one practice you can return to time and time again when all else fails. This practice has never failed me. It is the key to lifelong health, longevity and sanity.
You may practice Conscious Deep Breathing either lying on your back, seated in a chair, sitting on the floor or standing upright. Begin by closing your eyes and allowing yourself to feel the weight of your body fully supported by the floor beneath you or by the chair if you are sitting.
Draw your awareness to your solar plexus (upper belly just below your rib cage.) Consciously relax that part of your body completely as you focus on your breath. Consciously inhale and exhale through your nostrils minimizing any tendency to breathe through your mouth. Keep your awareness on your inhale and your exhale and on the sensation of movement in your upper belly as you breathe.
Consciously initiate the breath with the upper belly. This means that you relax the belly with each inhale. With practice you will begin to breathe more slowly and deeply, Try to begin to lengthen the duration of both the inhale and the exhale without any strain whatsoever. Do not strain in any way. With steady practice you will learn to slow the rate of your breathing. A slower rate of respiration produces a deeper state of relaxation. In the beginning don’t worry too much about this. This will happen on it’s own over time, with steady practice.
Once you are comfortable with the basic breathing technique, you are ready to begin to meditate on the breath.
CDB – Meditation Technique – #1
As you inhale, notice that you are inhaling. As you exhale, notice that you are exhaling. Stay conscious of all sensations associated with the inhale and the exhale. Try to breathe as slowly as humanly possible without straining in any way. Continue to allow the breath to come from your belly.
As you inhale – say the word “inhale” in your mind. As you exhale – say the word “exhale” in your mind.
We will now add Internal Counting. At the end of the exhale count silently in your mind. Your inner tape will sound like this: Inhale – Exhale – 1, Inhale – Exhale – 2, Inhale – Exhale – 3 etc.
If you are short on time or new to the practice – set a goal of 10 Conscious Deep Breaths. As time permits, you can sit longer, counting 30 breaths or more.
CDB – Meditation Technique – #2
Once you are adept at counting the breath and can easily count 30 consecutive breaths without losing count you may be ready to let go of counting. In this case you can simply repeat the word “inhale” each time you breathe in and repeat the word “exhale” each time you breathe out. Continue to breathe as slowly and deeply as possible and let the breath come from the belly. Your goal is to stay conscious of every inhale and every exhale, each time it happens. If you find your mind drifting you may return to technique #1 at any time using internal counting of the breath to focus the mind.
CDB – Meditation Technique – #3
This technique is for advanced practitioners only.
Start by practicing Technique #1 – and count 30 breaths. After 30 or so breaths let go of counting the breath and simply say inhale and exhale in your mind as you breathe and continue to breathe as slowly and deeply as possible, breathing from the belly.
Finally after some time has passed you may completely let go of any breathing technique. Let the breath flow completely at it’s own rate without any effort on your part to slow the breath. You may continue to repeat the word inhale as you breathe in and the word exhale as you breathe out. At some point you may drop that internal dialogue completely and begin to allow your consciousness to surrender completely to the sensation of the inhale and the exhale, allowing yourself to experience the breath in every part of your body and consciousness.
In this practice, we are essentially allowing the mind, body and breath to become one. As you continue this practice, other thoughts may pass through your awareness. As long as you are able to stay completely absorbed by the sensation of the breath moving within you, you will begin to experience the thoughts in a completely new light. This new light that will begin to shine inside you is called meditative awareness or enlightenment. To be enlightened is to be awake.
Allow yourself to bask in the pleasure of this new awareness and this new relationship with your mind.
Know that these thoughts which are moving through your mind have absolutely no power over you. They are simply the thought waves which are arising inside you at this moment. Seen in the light of our meditative awareness, all of our thoughts become neutral – they lose their charge. We can then begin to embrace all of our thoughts as just a natural part of our internal process which uniquely belongs to us. The result is often compassionate forgiveness and unconditional self love
During this morning's meditation, I've been reflecting on the dramatic changes that have occurred in my life as a result of beginning to embody the teachings of Yoga Master Shiva Rea. I discovered Shiva's workshops completely by chance 5 years ago as I was flipping through the Kripalu Yoga Center catalog and I stumbled on a workshop entitled - Advanced Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Shiva Rea.
With all due respect to my teacher, I continue on this path with all of my heart and soul. As a yoga studio owner, I am sharing this path with as many people as possible and I now hope to devote this blog to spreading these teachings in the form of tools and practices that you can begin to use today to move towards a healing path in your life.
