Don't Hold Your Breath
by Barry Sultanoff,
M.D.
and Luise Light,
Ed.D.
There is a quiet music within us, a sound
that we can tune into anytime, no matter where we are. It is the still voice of
our breath. Tuning into your breath is like setting your radio dial to the peace
channel that broadcasts day and night. Its message is "come home!" Come home to
your simple self, to the place beyond words where all that can be heard is the
gentle rhythm of your breathing. Breathing in and breathing out is the lullaby
that has been gently rocking you since the moment you were born. The ebb and
flow of your breath is a private ocean touching your intimate shore. Take a
vacation there, right now. Pause and listen. In your breath’s rise and fall is
the voice of the Great Mother, calling you home again.
When did you stop breathing fully? When did
you begin to constrain your breath, tighten your chest, and limit the flow of
air? Was it when you started mistrusting the world, unsure about others and
their motives? Was there a frightening event -- a close call, a shocking
episode, an abuse or abandonment that triggered this constriction? You may think
you are putting your arm around your breath as if it were a frightened child in
need of support and reassurance. If so, know that it is now safe to let go and
surrender to your breath’s natural ebb and flow.
One way to steady your breath without
constricting it is by placing the palm of your left hand gently over your
breastbone. Place your right hand lightly on your belly. As you do this, feel
how your breath becomes calmer and slower, and notice how much safer and
peaceful you feel. This gift of light touch is powerful. It brings freedom and
new life. You can breathe more deeply now, knowing there is nothing to
fear.
When you breathe, you welcome and receive
oxygen into your lungs. From there, the oxygen becomes distributed throughout
the body by way of the bloodstream. This life-sustaining oxygen is carried by a
system of "roadways" that vary in size from major "highways" called arteries to
smaller "byways" called arterioles and capillaries. The oxygen that travels
along these pathways brings life to all your cells.
By using your imagination, you can magnify the
efficiency of this oxygen transport system and play a very powerful role in
enhancing your own vitality.
By focusing your attention in a specific way, you can optimize the
delivery of oxygen throughout the "bio-region" that is you -- and create a sense
of peace, well-being, and balance throughout your body. How? By knowing this
secret about yourself: Your lungs are located in your belly, right behind your
navel. This is not literally true, of course, but by telling yourself that it is
-- by imagining that you have "secret" lungs in your belly that no one else
knows about, you will automatically breathe deeper and freer.
Try it right now. Imagine that your lungs are
in your belly. They are feeling very much at home there, settled in behind your
navel, with plenty of room to expand and contract. Check in with your
belly-lungs and make sure that you are breathing into them. Feel the breath of
life traveling from there everywhere, carrying life-giving, energy-restoring
oxygen to all your cells. Now, the air is going where it needs to go!
Belly breathing is a very helpful technique
that I often use in my medical practice with patients who are depressed.
Sanford, a patient who came to me for treatment of depression, is a good
example. At first, Sanford responded
well to a conventional antidepressant medication, however, because of persistent
insomnia due to the medication and a desire to phase out pharmacological
solutions to his problem, he agreed to try SAMe (S-adenosyl methionine,
an amino acid derivative) as an alternative.
Sanford did well with SAMe: His insomnia diminished and his residual
depression became mild and manageable. After much deliberation, he found the
emotional strength to end a stormy, long-term relationship with a girlfriend in
whose home he had lived for ten years as her partner and father figure to her
teenage son. But Sanford's adjustment to living on his own was shaky and
problematic. He often felt panicky and he couldn’t resist the urge to pick up
the phone and call his "ex-," even though she continued to be disdainful of his
attempts to re-connect with her.
Sanford reported feeling painfully isolated, unlovable, and worthless, and
he had thoughts of suicide. As he seemed dissociated from the feelings in his
body (his physical body was tight and tense and his breathing quite shallow), I
decided to incorporate some simple breath work into our sessions. I taught him
belly-breathing with his hands on his chest and abdomen. Breathing consciously
with his hands in that position, he reported feeling safe and protected. "I can
feel me loving myself -- and that really feels good," he reported.
Sanford responded well to intentional breathing as a self-nurturing
"therapy" for his feelings of grief and heartbreak. He practiced conscious
breathing with his hands on his chest and belly at various times throughout the
day; for example, while sitting at his desk at work or in bed before falling
asleep. Sanford joined a meditation group and began to make new friends. He went
on a five-day silent retreat with forty people, most of whom were far more
experienced meditators than he was. Though that experience was challenging for
him, he found that it helped him to regain perspective and emotional
equilibrium.
Sanford began to recognize that the "stories" he'd been telling himself
about his ex-girlfriend (the ones that had fueled his yearnings to reunite with
her, as well as his negative judgments of her faults) were "only stories" that
he could now rewrite in a way that was healthier for him and left him feeling
more whole and at peace.
Sanford has continued his breath work and is beginning to explore new
intimate relationships. He has reconnected with old friends whom he hasn’t seen
for years, his mood is upbeat, and he's feeling optimistic about the
future.
Like Sanford, we've all been breathing since
the moment we were born. We will only stop breathing when we die. In between, as
we breathe our life's quota of breaths, we swim in an ocean of infinite
possibilities.
Book co-authored by Barry Sultanoff, M.D.
Putting Out the Fire of
Addiction: A Holistic Guide to Recovery
by Barry Sultanoff, M.D. and Roger F. Klinger, M.T.S.
Info/Order this book
About the Author
Barry Sultanoff, M.D., is a founding member of the
American Holistic Medical Association and a charter member of the Feng Shui
Guild. Dr. Sultanoff has been a columnist for Natural Health Magazine as well as
several other periodicals. He is co-author of "Putting Out the Fire of
Addiction". Dr. Sultanoff practices whole person medicine, emphasizing the
integration of body, mind, and spirit, in Kensington, Maryland. Among his
passions are Argentine tango dancing, in-line skating, photography, and hatha
yoga.
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