STOP….
Close your eyes gently....
Feel your breath….
Begin to breathe gently….
Aahhh…it’s like our whole body feels the breath it has been missing. We begin to feel the tension subside and there is just a little bit more of our self felt.
Life has a tendency to take us away from our self, disconnecting us from who we are. Have you ever noticed how you might hold your breath while you watch a critical moment in a movie? Or when you are stressed, busy or rushing and then you stop and let out a big breath. We come to breathe the situation or tension of the moment instead of simply staying with our own breath.
The quality of our breath is key to establishing a connection back with a natural inner calm/stillness. We tend to take our breath for granted when it comes to everyday life. However our breath is a very important tool we can use to re-connect with our innermost and begin to establish a quality of steadiness within from which we can feel more in balance and centred.
It’s not only our breath, but the awareness of our body and being is also key to holding that connection, allowing us to hear the body’s constant messages and gauging what is needed for us to stay in balance and connected to our inner awareness and innate wisdom.
Conscious Presence
Conscious presence is when your mind is present with you and your body in every moment. Our mind likes to be steps ahead of the body as in those moments when your mind is already thinking about what’s ahead instead of being with your body in the moment. It requires energy for this separation and a drain on the body. When we move through our day in the conscious presence of our gentle breath and body, we feel the joy of being with our self, supporting us to sustain connection with our true source of energy and bring further wellbeing.
What am I connecting to and why is connection important?
The Gentle Breath Meditation supports you to re-connect with, and know, your true essence. Our essence is an energetic vibration or quality. As small children we were naturally connected with our essence, and we expressed simply from this essence.
Connection is having an awareness of your full self i.e. your inner and outer self, or more correctly, your physical and energetic selves. If we spend our life only thinking and knowing of our self from our physical experience we are missing having a full and deep relationship with the fullness of who we truly are.
Love, truth, stillness, harmony and joy are all qualities felt from the innermost part of our being and the essence of who we are.
Our Essence
Feeling your essence is an experience like no other. In the GBM our aim is to support a re-connection with our essence – an innermost quality often first experienced when we are very still and aware of our body. People describe the feeling of their essence in many different ways. Warm, flowing, gentleness, lightness, free, delicate, strong, purposeful, knowing, universal, still, loving, embracing are some of the words that describe the feeling of our essence.
The quality of your breath
As we are expressing beings, everything we do, say or think can be considered forms of our expression or movements. Your breath is a movement as is moving your body an expression. A determining factor of our wellbeing is the quality of how we move or express. In meditation it is important to consider the quality of our breath. This is a vital part of the practice as it’s the quality that supports a bridging with the deeper aspects of our inner being and Soul.
The quality of your movements – Choosing the quality of your breath is like choosing the quality of the road you are taking to your destination. Would you choose to drive your vehicle along a rough, corrugated terrain, very hard on the tyres, the chassis, the car body, not to mention on your own body as it has to hold on tight for a long, rough ride; or would you choose the road that your car can grace itself along, giving you a much smoother, enjoyable ride, with far less damage done, and arriving at your destination in much less time, feeling fresh for what’s next.
Can meditation be harmful
***There is a belief that all meditation is supportive, however it can actually be harmful when its activity is not understood energetically. Meditation in truth is only a tool of connection. Once the participant connects with their innermost, the meditation as an activity is complete and movement or expression is what is required to expand the inner connection and awareness. Then your body and being becomes the meditation in movement. Eventually, this can be held throughout your day, a way of being that brings much richness to your life.
Meditation Classes
A morning class is a great way to connect with you and your body before you get lost in the busyness or stress of the day ahead, aligning your mind and body to hold focus and presence. An evening class offers the space to wind down from the day, a very important step in establishing a rhythm with you and your body to support you through the evening and into a quality night sleep.
Daily Cycles
We can look at our day in cycles. The daylight part of our day (usually from 5am to 5pm) is a cycle of motion, activity, work etc., while our evening and nighttime (5pm to 5am) is when we are in the cycle of repose, winding down, rest, sleep, a surrender to the all of who we are etc. Our movements in those cycles are important as they strengthen our relationship with what the cycle offers, and set us up for the cycle we are going into next. For example, if we are racy, stressed, constantly in think mode during our day, it can be difficult to slow this momentum down once you move into the repose cycle, making it difficult to go to sleep or have quality sleep. The quality of your repose cycle has a huge influence on your next day’s rhythm, and your ability to be present, focussed, productive and still.
- Meditation is a tool of connection. In the early stages of building a relationship with meditation we are connecting with an awareness of our breath and our physical self
From the foundation of this relationship, we build every other relationship – not only with self and other people, but the relationship we have with every aspect of our life.
Comments