Mind-Body Unity, the Real Power of Breath, and a Beautiful Resilience

1. After a Breathing, Mindfulness, Yoga/etc. Session, Ask Yourself this:

“How does it feel to be like this? Does it feel natural? Is this a way you would want to continue to be in your life?”

– Rosamund Oliver

Then, if it is a way you’d like to continue to be in your life, use it as motivation to carry that feeling into the rest of your day 🙏

2. Slow Breathing: External vs. Self-Paced

You can choose a rate (say, 6 breaths a minute), use an app, breathe at that rate, and feel great. I’ve done this for years.

However, you can also let your body set the pace: you can voluntarily breathe slowly without using an external pacer.

Here’s a great explanation of why this works from Yogani. He’s talking about spinal breathing, but it applies to slow breathing in general:

“The time it takes will be different for each person. It can be different for the same person from day to day, depending on the course of purification occurring in the nervous system. It can even vary in a single spinal breathing session we are doing. Duration is a function of our inner neurobiological processes and our metabolism, which change as the processes of inner purification and opening are occurring. // In spinal breathing we comfortably favor slow deep breathing, whatever that is for us in the moment. That is what determines the duration.”

3. If Mind and Body are One, Then…

“If mind and body are one, we can do more than change the body by changing the mind; we can change the mind by changing the body.”

- Ellen Langer, Ph.D., The Mindful Body

And this is precisely the power of breathing. It’s the most direct path to realizing this mind-body unity.

Change your breathing, to change your body, to change your mind.

4. But the Real Healing Power of Breathing Lies Here

The real healing power of breathing lies in metaphor:

• When we accept the breath as it is (mindfulness of breathing), we learn to accept life just as it is, helping us see reality more clearly.

• When we control our breath (breathing exercises), we discover a locus of control over our body and mind in any situation.

• And when we examine the breath with curiosity, we learn that everything—all the mundane, everyday, overlooked aspects of life—can become interesting with mindful awareness.

P.S. We deeply explore and apply these metaphors (along with the actual physical & emotional benefits of breathing) in my 8-week coaching for overcoming stressful setbacks. Email me at [email protected] with subject line “breath” and I’ll send you more details.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.