This highly acclaimed book, written by Dennis Lewis, will take you on a fascinating journey into the physiology, psychology, and spirituality of natural breathing. You will also learn simple, powerful deep-breathing exercises that can help improve your health, increase your energy, and support your quest for self-knowledge and self-transformation.
Excerpt
"As a result of my work with the Healing Tao, as well as with other teachings, such as the Gurdjieff Work and Advaita Vedanta, two facts have become clear to me with regard to the relationship of breath to health and inner growth. First, that our poor breathing habits have arisen not only out of our psychosomatic “ig-norance,” our lack of organic awareness, but also out of our unconscious need for a buffering mechanism to keep us from sensing and feeling the reality of our own deep-rooted fears and contradictions. There is absolutely no doubt that superficial breathing ensures a superficial experience of ourselves. Second, that if we were able to breathe “naturally” for even a small percentage of the more than 15,000 breaths we take during each waking day we would be taking a huge step not only toward preventing many of the physical and psychological problems that have become endemic to modern life, but also toward supporting our own inner growth—the growth of awareness of who and what we really are, of our own essential being. It is my hope that the ideas and practices explored in this book will help make this possible."
Professional Reviews
Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle
"... eye-opening book ... exquisite description of the simple act of breathing ... a good start in re-educating ourselves to 'whole-body breathing. ... this is a book to make you (and all your organs) smile."
Somatics Magazine-Journal
"The small, comprehensive, exquisite book spreads before the reader the knowledge and guided breathing experiences necessary to begin to return to natural breathing. ... a beautiful exploration of breathing. ... Just reading the book is a meditative experience."
Yoga Journal
"Lewis draws on his study of the Gurdjieff Work, Advaita Vedanta, Mantak Chia's Healing Tao, as well as Feldenkrais and Middendorf approaches to show how our habitual patterns of breathing undermine our health, reduce our vitality, and diminish our sensory and emotional awareness."
