Excerpts from the book Breathe for the Health of It
Chapter One: Some of Anna’s Story
When people ask how I got into breath work, I say it was an act of desperation and nothing less than a miracle. Breath work saved my life, my health and then it gave me a job. The real blessing was, I found my true self within this journey. With that, there came a great passion for sharing what I learned.
As a child I had been dealing with illness, which lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome lasting for the majority of my young adult life. During those years my symptoms included severe earaches, food allergies, bouts of asthma, Candida and my nose was completely clogged with polyps due to a build up of histamines. I was in constant pain, had chronic sinus inflammation and headaches. At one point, I hadn’t slept more than a few hours per night for seven months. Suicide tempted me during many hours alone on a floor crying, full of anger and hatred at what my life had become. The emotional and physical pain was killing me and I wanted it to end.
I continued to get worse though I tried every kind of pill, cleansing diet, allergy shot and inhaler. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars and no one had answers for me. I also had leaky gut syndrome where bits of everything I ate leaked through holes in my intestines filtering into my bloodstream. A blood cell analysis showed I was severely anemic and my white blood cells were deformed. I was living a miserable life.
A friend who knew what I was going through invited me to come to a workshop about breathing. Previously, all the meditations or breathing techniques I tried were instructing me to only use my nose, which was impossible. I went and felt hopeful for the first time in years.
I had been breathing incorrectly and this transferred into all areas of my daily life. I focused my limited energy into believing that I could possibly heal myself through breath work.
I had three private sessions with a trained facilitator, which opened my body to breathing more efficiently. I reconnected with a part of myself that had been lying dormant and I decided that I would get through this suffering and take my life back.
After my first session, I slept better than I had in years. By the third session, my body understood how to breathe correctly and how powerful of a tool this was. I couldn’t afford more so I bought a tape of relaxation music and practiced breathing for 20-60 minutes each day. Committing to practicing daily was difficult but experiencing good initial results was motivating.
In three weeks, my tight jaw relaxed and the long held tension was gone. I used the breathing technique every time I felt an asthma attack coming and instead of reaching for a pill or my inhaler, I stopped what I was doing and practiced my newfound breathing for a few minutes. I retrained my respiratory muscles to breathe fully when I felt the tension of an asthmatic attack. I also looked within at the emotions triggering the constriction around my heart. In three months my asthma disappeared.
Sometimes practicing breath work took me into my history and created opportunities to observe how I had been living my life (my biography) and how it was affecting my health (my biology).
I had to deal with repressed thoughts and feelings related to the many sexual abuses I had experienced. Beginning with a neighbor at age four, sexual abuse had filtered through my relationships into my mid-twenties. It was difficult to claim my actions during these abuses, but it was very freeing to release the toxic energy by breathing, crying and accepting my past. Deep breathing helped me observe and surrender stored emotions.
I had to forgive myself as well as those I held accountable for hurting me. This process was intense, yet I knew that the fears and feelings had to be changed. By crying, shaking it off like a cat or holding my hands over my heart, shame, fear and pain unanimously disappeared. During this type of session, I consistently refocused my attention on breathing and receiving my intention. Within minutes, feelings of peace and love filled me and the emotional work was done.
This showed me that the body does use language, such as pain, tension or a feeling that just won’t leave. I repetitively asked myself, “Where do I feel bad and what wants to be revealed?” Often I didn't like what I heard, but I trusted myself, and this process enough to resolve or change almost any belief or unhealthy physical response.
By paying attention to my body’s signals I knew when it was time to do breath work.
Chapter Four: The Biology and Anatomy of Breathing
When we are anxious, stressed and feeling negative, our bodies tend to breathe shallowly. This stimulates the fight-or-flight response and signals the autonomic nervous system to release chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline. The body responds to this by shutting down the digestion process and certain brain functions. Both of these chemicals are necessary for the body to function but in excess, can have detrimental effects.
It is common to hear someone say, "I can’t think straight," and this may be due to how the body responds when it lacks sufficient oxygen. Lack of oxygen can contribute to headaches, stomachaches, nausea, and general irritability as well as many other health problems.
When your heart circulates blood in order to supply your cells with needed oxygen and there is deficit in supply, your heart is over worked. If your body is not breathing properly, it re-circulates toxins. This impairs your immune system and puts you at risk.
If we lack the proper amount of oxygen for our many bodily operations, we make energy in an anaerobic way. This excess effort of creates a by-product called lactic acid leading to muscle soreness and acidic imbalance.
Long ago when humans lived in caves and had to flee in order to escape danger, the body shut down certain functions to pump energy into other areas. This is the fight or flight response. Today the same stress response occurs when some one beeps a car horn at us. Our bodies are used to responding to ever present stimuli be it life threatening or not. This constant flow of stress hormones eventually exhausts our adrenal glands.
In modern times of high stress, pollution and rampant ill health, it has never been more important to pay close attention to breathing correctly. We can change the adverse effects of stress by changing how we breathe.
Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing
Breathing from the diaphragm improves ventilation and perfusion in the lungs bringing the blood-gas exchange into balance. By breathing slowly in a relaxed state, we allow the parasympathetic nervous system to dominate, which creates homeostasis in the body.
When our diaphragm moves our heart, stomach, intestines and liver receive a gentle massage. This improves elimination, digestion and circulation. Slow, gentle breathing enables the body to function properly and the benefits are relative to how the mind processes information and emotions.
Chapter Eight: Creating Changes In Your Life
“In understanding how to manifest our future,
we must first learn to understand and manifest what is happening now.” Anna Coy
You can go within to find information, which will inspire you to be self-motivated and encouraged to live the life you want. When practicing this breath technique with an intention, you will notice it brings introspection and urges you to grow or change your ways.
If you observe your breathing and have a constant gentle flow, your life may mimic this flow of gentleness and ease simply because that is how you live internally. It directly affects how you respond to the external environment. When you feel emotions or thoughts coming up, it is a time to examine and create new perspectives.
You always have the choice to take responsibility for your thoughts even when they are not something you had decided to believe in. Sometimes we find out that what we think or believe may simply be transferred information from others. You have to determine if those thoughts or beliefs are in harmony with your life. If they don't lead to a state of joy, you may determine it is better to create a new belief while doing breath work. Ask yourself, “What do I believe? Is that my truth?” Do I want to continue believing this or that?” The mind is willing to believe a lie just as easily as it will believe the truth. It is up to you to decide what is true for you.
If you feel fear coming up, then simply say to yourself, “I am right here breathing and with this next breath, I give myself permission to observe what is going on. I focus on breathing therefore, I accept and see myself clearly.” By doing this you change how your body responds to fear. This is an example of how you tell the body to remain open and relaxed when you feel fear. Instead of constricting, closing down and holding your breath, you choose calmness. You choose emotional autonomy.