Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make that next breath gentle.
Our breath is our life, without it we die.
Yet we take our breath for granted; we breathe in and out mechanically without thought or awareness of our breath or how we are breathing.
How We Breathe
As a dentist I am very aware of how people breathe. I observe how my patients are breathing as it gives me clues to their health, how they are feeling or how they are coping with their treatment. From hyperventilating to breath holding, shallow breathing to deep sucking in lungfuls of oxygen, nose breathing, mouth breathing, wheezing, gasping… there are so many different ways of breathing and I feel I have seen them all.
We breathe on average 1700 to 2100 times a day. That is a lot of in and out, air passing through our nose and lungs and into our circulation. A lot of breathing muscles and chest walls expanding and contracting, rising and falling.
Studies show that the way we breathe affects our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion.
There are times when situations or our emotions alter how we breathe, just like when we feel stressed or anxious, angry, upset, frustrated, afraid, excited, happy, calm, loved or when we sleep. In these circumstances what is happening to us is dictating how we react, our breathing, and ultimately our physiology and biochemistry.
Choosing How To Breathe
But what if we could choose to breathe in a way that would allow us to feel in control of life rather than life controlling us?
What if we could choose a breath that would allow us to connect to who we are, breathe for ourselves and remain unaffected by the world and what is happening outside of us?
What if we could use our breath to become aware of how we are feeling, what is happening in our body and to become more in touch with ourselves?
Well guess what? – we can, it is as easy as breathing… well, as easy as choosing how to breathe.
As easy as choosing to breathe for yourself. As easy as breathing gently in and out through your nose. As easy as watching and observing your breath as often as you can during the day. And as easy as stopping and bringing yourself back to that gentle breath.
Breathing Gently
Breathing gently in and out through the nose, as taught in the Gentle Breath Meditation™ by Serge Benhayon, has allowed thousands to be more at one with themselves, to be in charge of their breath and how their body feels.
For me it has allowed me to feel settled inside and at ease. I feel less rushed, pressured and dictated to by external events and other people. I feel healthier, less emotional, less stressed and as if I have more time in my day. I also notice, especially at work, how maintaining my rhythm and gentleness of breathing allows my patients and team members to also be more at ease. (Which as you can imagine is a blessing in a highly charged environment like the dental office!).
By taking that choice to breathe gently to a deeper place and choosing to breathe fully for me I have found that I know exactly what is needed and when; from knowing what to do or say to making big decisions and simple choices like when to rest, eat, exercise, work or sleep.
Breathing gently allows me to connect to me and from that connection make a choice rather than reacting to events, people or emotions. Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.
When I breathe fully for me I become exquisitely aware of how I am feeling or reacting and also of how others feel, what they are projecting or needing. My breathing becomes like a fine tuning system allowing my sixth sense of feeling to kick in at a higher level. Living becomes clearer, richer and simpler. I feel like I am truly living, not just existing and being dictated to by life.
Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make that next breath gentle.
The Gentle Breath Meditation™, as taught by Serge Benhayon of Universal Medicine – a meditation for health and vitality.
by Dr Rachel Hall, Holistic Dentist, Brisbane
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
It’s great to read blogs again and this one is vital as without breathing the body will die. But what I loved is knowing that when we are off, then we have breathed someone or something else’s breath and that can make you loose yourself.
The Gentle Breath Meditation is a simple and powerful resource to have. “Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me”, which is better than something else being charged in me.
‘But what if we could choose to breathe in a way that would allow us to feel in control of life rather life controlling us?’, is a powerful statement. No wonder our lives are in a disarray, when we allow life’s situations to control us. Then we never feel that eternal settlement in our bodies.
If we are constantly recycling life’s breath, then how does it affect the rest of the planet? And its ozone? Hypothetically, is it all about the gases produced by industries, or do we play a part in it too? Worth thinking about…
I’d rather ‘breathing gently puts me back in charge of me’, than be controlled by something else, that serves in uselessness.
Without having experienced this myself, I would be saying this is a rather bold statement: “Breathing gently allows me to connect to me and from that connection make a choice rather than reacting to events, people or emotions. Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.”
I suppose if we think about toxic fumes affecting us and our bodies and we are required to wear masks. The breath we breathe of someone or something else is no different. Wear your own mask…
Funny that how we breath so much, in fact all of the time, and how it is such an integral part of our day and core to our survival, and yet we can be so oblivious to our breath and take it for granted! And then when we bring back our attention to the breath and learn to breath with awareness and gentleness, it is amazing how much this supports the whole body and being in its natural expression of gentleness.
I agree we become oblivious of our breathing till something blocks it. Why take care then? Taking care of your breath is part of our self-caring to the core..
Thank you Rachel for the simplicity and above all the practicality of the gentle breath and how powerful it is in supporting us to be more present with the body and all its communications.
Rachel I also noticed this line “My breathing becomes like a fine tuning system allowing my sixth sense of feeling to kick in at a higher level.” I hadn’t actually considered the link of breathing me and accessing my clairsentience but it makes perfect (6th) sense. 🙂
“Breathing gently allows me to connect to me and from that connection make a choice rather than reacting to events, people or emotions.”. I have seen myself as a reactive person, but as this line shares, who we are is not in those reactions, in our essence we simply are able to be and respond.
This makes sense, choose the quality of our breath, and the quality of our life, ‘But what if we could choose to breathe in a way that would allow us to feel in control of life rather than life controlling us?’
There are definitely many times I take my breath and the way I breath forgranted! In practising the Gentle Breath Meditation the other day it was so easy to see how I had been caught up in my thoughts and not allowing myself to just be with my body. Something so simple as easy as the breath and breathing is actually the foundation and key to our true well-being.
I started to breath gently while reading this and it was really lovely feel that gentleness expanding throughout my body. It is so easy to choose. Yet, we are so good at coming up with excuse and justification for not making that choice. It’s like, we are letting ourselves be more easily dictated by something that does not want us to feel that exquisite sweetness that we can get used to and possibly claim as our natural way of being.
You say it all Rachel: ‘Our breath is our life, without it we die.’ So what is the quality of breath we breathe, what is the quality of energy that we will to animate us? What is such a gift is that our bodies always will record and reflect what this quality is, with the quality of our breath and the choices we make as such the quality of life we are living. We only need to be willing to pay attention and be honest. For when we surrender to the quality of love we are within, our breath reflects the quality of stillness, of who we are and we are moved naturally governed by this quality to simply be ourselves.
Fascinating to read more about breathing and things I was not aware of like ‘We breathe on average 1700 to 2100 times a day.’ and the importance of our breath and how we breathe and the fact that we do have a choice in how we breath. Something that I was not taught until I knew Universal Medicine, yet this is something we should be taught from birth. The Gentle Breath Meditation is super supportive.
The quality of our breath determines everything, the Gentle Breath Meditation has brought a lot of awareness and understanding to me about my breath and how this affects my movements.
Only when you are in charge of your own breathing you can front-foot life. In that sense, we have to appreciate the Gentle Breath Meditation. It brings us back (back-footing tool). By doing so, we get acquainted of how does it feel to be in charge and what does it take to not lose it. This is crucial in case we wish to go there.
This is the way to be, so we are not affected by life, so we are in charge of our life, ‘What if we could choose a breath that would allow us to connect to who we are, breathe for ourselves and remain unaffected by the world and what is happening outside of us?’
The benefits of breathing our own breath are massive; how wonderful if this practice was taught to all school children early on in their lives, for them to use daily as they go through life; ‘it has allowed me to feel Settled inside and at ease. I feel less rushed, pressured and dictated to by external events and other people. I feel healthier, less emotional, less stressed and as if I have more time in my day.’
Yes, to being in charge of your breath; this is a must, for all people, ‘What if we could choose a breath that would allow us to connect to who we are, breathe for ourselves and remain unaffected by the world and what is happening outside of us?’
“My breathing becomes like a fine tuning system” Amazing blog Rachel – you make me want to totally investigate the science of breathing and how my breathing can fine tune my body!
‘Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment.’ Spot on Rachel, and the Gentle Breath Meditation has been key in supporting me to choose and live my own breath.
So true – living is as easy as breathing. There were times in my life where I had never even considered a concept of “choosing to breathe my own breath”, and likewise, I was living a life of reaction, constantly feeling the tension of having to protect myself. Knowing there is a choice to be made, and making a conscious choice gives us a life changing perspective.
If studies show us that our quality of breathing affects ‘our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion’ then it makes sense with our escalating rates of disease and illness that simple breathing exercises such as the Gentle Breath Meditation and Esoteric Connective tissue exercises are taught far and wide to support and promote our health and well-being.
“When I breathe fully for me I become exquisitely aware of how I am feeling” Learning and experiencing the Gentle Breath Meditation should be as much a part of education as learning to read.
Yes, if everyone was taught and practised the Gentle Breath Meditation, the world would be a more loving place to live in, ‘Breathing gently allows me to connect to me and from that connection make a choice rather than reacting to events, people or emotions. Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.’
Being aware of my breath has really helped me to get an understanding of how I’m feeling. Whether I’m holding on to something, feeling nervous or anxious or even tired. It’s a wonderful tool to bring awareness back to your body.
I totally agree Elodie – when we are willing to be aware of how we are breathing it is a gift to know where we are really at anytime, anywhere.
There are a lot of things to choose in life, but there is not much awareness around the breath and choosing to breathe your own breathe, which truly supports you in all your decisions and knowing what is needed in any given situation.
‘I have found that I know exactly what is needed and when; from knowing what to do or say to making big decisions and simple choices like when to rest, eat, exercise, work or sleep’. This is how living has become easy for me – having always created struggle… which started with self-care, truly nourishing and honouring my body to being very gentle in my movements.
The way we breathe offers us a great reflection to the way we are choosing to live. In bringing awareness to our breath we bring awareness to how we are living and if the we are in fact breathing the life we want and deserve to live – one that is connection to and enriched with who we are.
“Living becomes clearer, richer and simpler. I feel like I am truly living, not just existing and being dictated to by life.” Who would have thought that breathing made life simpler! We all know it is needed to keep us alive but how often do we truly appreciate the input we have which determines the output?
The power of the gentle breath and its ripple effect in our every day lives….Lucy you have nailed it as we can take our breath so much for granted and let alone the gentle breath and all the transformation that it offers.
It is so true how much we take our breath for granted…and yet without it we don’t exist. When I make the time to observe my breath flowing in and out it is so very stilling and there is no past or future only the present or the moment with the breath.
I agree and this for me reflects just how much we take for granted that every moment we are offered the opportunity to evolve, and that we are supported to no end to live in connection to all that we are through our every breath.
I love the title of this blog, because life can be so simple when we are connected to our bodies, when we are fully present in every moment, with our breath and all our movements gentle.
‘Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me’ – sums the whole blog up.
It is so true, when my boat has been rocked and I am all upset and emotional, my breathe rapidly changes and in a one extreme occasion, I was panting and struggling to breathe in, and only when I calmed down did my breathe slow down and I could breathe normal again.
I feel my breath more gentle after reading your blog Rachael, and have already more awareness of how I am breathing, it being my choice to make the next breath gentle….
Such a great question – what if we choose, and don’t let the world dictate to us?
It makes sense that, when we put more attention to something that we do in every moment in our life, it has a big impact on the quality of how we are living.
How deeply empowering it is to breathe our own breath which flows on to our every movement in life and the quality of life we will go on to live. The alternative is to live someone else’s rhythm and be at the mercy of whatever comes out way.
This is so so true, “we breathe in and out mechanically without thought or awareness of our breath or how we are breathing.” We take it for granted and only when things are interrupted or inconvenienced do we stop and realise we have taken them for granted and then wonder why. I am returning to appreciating what is around me for no reason, just for the mere fact it’s there. Appreciation is a key for me to unlocking more of the world to see.
Love this comment Ray – we do so much on autopilot… ‘unconsciously’ and yet if we stop for a moment and take a good look at it with fresh eyes, life is quite simply amazing. All of it, to the detail. All we need to do is look up and remain present.
So true and this is how to live life truly, by always giving everything fresh eyes and a fresh start. No matter what has happened before or how you have read a situation the next time you see it bring all of you to it. In other words don’t walk into something just because it’s always been there, give everything a fresh discern and from there you are always truly living.
Our breath is a great reflection to how we are living, when we are exhausted we breathe more deeply, when we are in a rush our breath becomes racy, and when we breath gently feeling the flow of air that passes through our nose and through our lungs, our livingness becomes steady, and even when there is a drama in life, and we are able to stay steady with our gentle breath, we don’t get rocked or pushed about, as we remain calm from within.
Thankyou Rachel, this is a foundation we can all live by, as by choosing the quality of our breath we also choose the quality of energy in our body.
We will all agree how important breathing is for us all but what you bring here to the fore Rachel is the how we are breathing. And I can only say so very true and my life has changed enormously since I have been introduced to the Gentle Breath Meditation. Determining the quality of our own breath is life changing and allows everything to unfold in that quality thereafter.
When I combine The Gentle Breath, with tender touch of the fingertips feeling my feet and hands, sticking to purpose of connection to the all, and knowing what is going on in my body and, what is going on around me, supports me to keep me in a state of being consistently present with awareness how to be and respond to what is next.
It is no surprise that how we breathe affects our health, ‘Studies show that the way we breathe affects our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion.’ The benefits of being aware of our breath and how we breathe, breathing gently, surely make this a great addition to our everyday lives, and this is where The Gentle Breath Meditation (https://www.universalmedicine.com.au/services/free-audio-library) can really assist with this.
Being aware of our breath is so empowering, I love what you share in this blog Rachel, ‘Breathing gently allows me to connect to me and from that connection make a choice rather than reacting to events, people or emotions. Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.’
1700 to 2100 – that’s a lot of breaths in one day. I am just wondering how my days might be different if I was consciously present for each one of them and made the quality gentle?
Well said Debra – I agree and feel there is work to be done for many of us to make every breath count. 🙂
I love the simplicity of this blog. Breathe gently at all times and life unfolds. The one thing we can control is the quality of our breath.
The Gentle Breath Mediation is super simple and also a powerful tool that allows us to feel a deeper connection to ourselves making the day flow with more ease and joy. I now love that the Unimed Living website has lots of different Gentle Breath Meditations available online making them very accessible to millions of people world-wide.
It is incredibly self-empowering to understand that at any moment, no matter what has gone on before or around us or towards us, we can choose how we breathe and therefore choose the quality of our being at any time.
What in immense gift and blessing the Gentle Breath Meditation is – so, so simple, and yet if applied in one’s own life, offering the opportunity to reconnect to the truth of who we are and live founded from this place. Not on a remote mountaintop, but in the activity and ‘all’ that is our everyday life.
Beautifully shared Rachel. One of the greatest teachings of Serge Benhayon, that I’ve applied in my own life has been the Gentle Breath Meditation. And I agree with all that you’ve shared here. There is truly the sense of ‘breathing one’s own breath’, as Serge has often referred to – something hugely significant, and empowering to bring attentiveness to and experience in one’s own body, in a world dominated by so many influences that would have us lose ourselves.
Through the gentle breath, and such simple yet sustained awareness of my own breath now (after practising this for many years), I know a level and quality of presence within myself, that is today rarely ‘disturbed’ by outer influence, a presence that holds steady amongst so much that can be going on around me.
What a simple but profound blog Rachel! So often we can get caught up in our day and not aware we are breathing in a particular way that is impacting on our body and its functions. Thank you for reminding us.
Living takes on a whole expansion of possibilities, wonders and magic by simply choosing my own gentle breath in every moment. The only choice is am I willing for such expansion? And if not why not – why would I prefer tension and complication over joy, simplicity and a greater connection to truth and understanding beyond what the mind can fathom?
I love to come back to this blog, it is truly supportive in so many ways clearly showing the importance of how we choose to breathe affects everything else in our life. This blog shines the light of awareness on something that we all take for granted – our breath, for without we would die.
Awesome blog and fantastic reminder that we literally have everything we need right under our noses. Whilst reading this blog I became more aware of my own breath and now feel more deeply connected to myself. I will use this as a marker of how I am through life today. Thank you Rachel
‘Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.’ I can definitely relate to this.
Reading your blog this morning, I received an insight in how to support someone who is wakeful at night with a restless and active mind. The Gentle Breath Meditation is a simple tool we can use anywhere and anytime. It settles mind and steadies body and as you say supports us to take control of life and rather than be controlled by it.
“Living becomes clearer, richer and simpler. I feel like I am truly living, not just existing and being dictated to by life.” This is so simple it is just crazy how difficult we make it all for ourselves. I love the thought of not being dictated to by life.
Wow Rachel I love this blog, your description of how the Gentle Breath Meditation changes the way you get through life is amazing… from what you’ve shared, this is the simplest and most powerful key to living life in a way that is fully engaged with life, but relatively unaffected by it.
I agree Jenny and what you say is fundamental to how we experience life: ‘this is the simplest and most powerful key to living life in a way that is fully engaged with life, but relatively unaffected by it’. I know from my own experience I am less affected by what is going on around me than in my earlier years. There is a huge difference between deeply caring for the world and being encumbered by it.
Yes Kehinde, a very big difference, and one that supports us to understand the harm in sympathy, empathy and most versions of so-called compassion. The detachment felt with the Gentle Breath Meditation allows a true marker for what it means to ‘hold love’ for someone, without losing yourself to their situation in any way. Far from making us separate from others in this process, it allows for far greater awareness of what’s needed and responsiveness to what will truly support.
For me the gentle breath meditation was a key technique that allowed me to understand that I was the master of how I felt at any moment and I can choose the energetic quality of my body no matter what is occurring in life around me. Do I breathe me or do I breathe my surroundings?
‘When I breathe fully for me I become exquisitely aware of how I am feeling or reacting and also of how others feel, what they are projecting or needing. My breathing becomes like a fine tuning system allowing my sixth sense of feeling to kick in at a higher level. Living becomes clearer, richer and simpler. I feel like I am truly living, not just existing and being dictated to by life’. All this when we choose to breathe our own breath…I have found The Gentle Breath Meditation life changing in so many ways.
I love following my breath, the naturalness of the flow, the movement of the body, the feeling of it entering and leaving the body. It can be very exposing as to how I am. Whether I am anxious, in sympathy or in tension or even holding back but it also shows how simple it can be from letting all of that go, just by breathing. Our body is quite incredible.
Perfect for me to read today, as I realise just how much I little awareness of how I am breathing during the day and a blog I plan to revisit.
Catching myself when I leave me during my day these days it is so easy to clock that and return to breathing gently for a few breaths, to return to connecting with myself. This can be done anywhere, anytime.
‘Breathing puts me gently back in charge of me,’ I love this, Rachel. So true too. Starting my day with some gentle breath meditation enables me to connect with myself and brings a different quality to my day. This is a quantum difference, compared with how I used to rush out of bed every morning with my head filled with a to-do list before I even really got going!
I can recall when I made a very conscious choice to switch from breathing from my mouth to breathing through my nose. That was a very stressful time in my life, and I can testify that with this different choice of breathing and other supportive self-loving choices, this period was turned around from stress to a much deeper settlement in a very short period of time.
“Studies show that the way we breathe affects our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion”. I would love to read more about this research. This makes a lot of sense from what I have observed in myself, and a lot of people. In nursing, we are taught how vital respirations are as the early warning system that something isn’t right. It is the first to change when there is any pain or imbalance in the body. Yet even though we know that, it is one of the most undervalued vital signs. It is awesome that we can choose the way we breathe and that the way we feel reflects that choice. Choosing to breathe gently means we can feel gentle and move gently, no matter what craziness in happening around us.
Focusing on the breath: such a simple technique that brings us back into our body, back into connection and out of the head-spin. The more I practice this, the more I appreciate the benefits that it brings to my whole body, sense of connection, and stillness.
It’s just unfathomably amazing our body knows how to breathe and it keeps breathing, just like our heart keeps beating, and all other cells in our body know where to be and what to do. Just unthinkable. And with the way we currently live our life, we seem to keep finding ways to interfere with its design and rhythm. We talk often about the quality of air we breathe, but seldom the way we breathe and its quality. Even just a physiological point of view it is quite obvious breathing is what sets our body up in movement. Choosing how we want to do it, and bringing our mind into the equation to become the conscious part of it is something definitely worth investigating and putting into practice.
When we connect to our breath we learn of the power that our every breath holds, as we feel the richness of our union to ourselves, our Soul, with the Divine, with God. We realise that this union can be lived through our every breath. It is through our every breath that we can discover and connect to who we are within, through which the Fiery-light of our Soul can be lived through our bodies bringing the lightness of Heaven to earth through our every move.
The way we breathe is certainly a marker for the quality in which we choose to move through life. The power in choosing to breath gently is underestimated as to not only the physiological effect that it can have but the control this affords us to be able to respond rather than react to life.
How many white papers have been written, how many degrees studied, how much research completed in history and yet what if the key to life was right at the start? Yes Rachel could it be, that the vital part is the way and quality we breathe? It’s galling and a little humbling to admit after all our tricks and travails to return to this very elementary part but that’s the way it is. Thank you Rachel for making it so simple.
Becoming more aware of what it feels like to breathe gently totally changes how we are with ourselves. Our bodies feel more expansive, spacious and light, and there is more space between us and our thoughts, the shoulds and the ought tos.. we can start to see these things as additional layers that aren’t part of the core of who we are, and let them go. It’s actually quite amazing how something as simple as breathing gently can release a huge amount of pressure and expectations we put upon ourselves.
Love this blog Rachel as it is a gorgeous reminder to bring quality into everything we do – it’s the quality not the quantity that makes the real difference.
Beautiful to re-read your blog Rachel. “Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make that next breath gentle.” So true. I love sharing the gentle breath meditation and get that opportunity every week in my current volunteering role.
“Our breath is our life, without it we die.” And how we breathe affects how we live. The Gentle Breath Meditation as presented by Serge Benhayon is the key to breathing your own breath.
It is so true Rachel, our breathing is something that most of us don’t even think about, that is until something goes wrong causing our breathing to be compromised and finally becoming the focus of our attention. How wonderful to have such a simple technique as the Gentle Breath Meditation that helps to bring our awareness back to us, our body and how we are feeling in that moment, and committed to regularly can make such a huge difference in the overall quality of our lives.
Such a simple tool, to decide how we breathe, which brings profound change to our life if we give it attention and credit every now and then, and not just let it happen according to the situation we are in.
Thank you for the inspiration to acknowledge that I breathe today!
We really do take our breath for granted. I love how much you’ve exposed this here Rachael. If you use it as a tool for understanding where your patients are at, then there is absolutely no reason we can’t all be aware of our own breath to determine how we are feeling ourselves. It sounds so simple, in fact, I know that it is simple. The choice to want to know how we are doing, to get really real about what’s going on, that can be the challenging part.
‘Studies show that the way we breathe affects our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion’ and yet we are not taught how to breathe. To be honest as an adult looking back on my school years I would of much rather been taught how to breath and take care of my human body, and be prepared how to live in the real world than of had the many lessons I had with the likes of algebra and trigonometry that I have never and will never use in my real everyday life and workplace today.
Thanks for the reminder that I can choose to breathe in a way that allows me to feel in control of life rather than life controlling me – by discerning my breathing as often as I can during the day. So simple, yet with profound benefits.
Hi Rachel – a beautiful and simple blog about an incredibly simple, powerful and profound technique. Your comment – ‘What if we could use our breath to become aware of how we are feeling, what is happening in our body and to become more in touch with ourselves?’ touches on what is available to us when we practice this technique. It also highlights the responsibility we hold to live honestly in the world and honour where others are at each moment. This technique brings an awareness of who we truly are and the precious gift it is to breathe, to live and to love as one with humanity.
Thank you Rachel for expressing so powerfully the amazing effects that choosing to breathe gently has on our lives and those around us. As I have built a deeper connection with me I have a solidness within that is not swayed by what is going on around me (most of the time) and allows me to choose in the moment what is the next loving thing for me to do. This has totally transformed my life and the constant stress and anxiety that perpetually ran through my body is a thing of the past and my life is much more joyful and productive and it all started by becoming aware of how I breathe in and out.
When life feels complex bring it back to simplicity and what is more simple that connecting with the basic necessity of life, even more important than water. Our breath, thank you for the short introduction into the gentle breath Rachel.
Our breath – something so important and yet we take it for granted. And more important is HOW we breathe. Thank you Rachel for sharing that how we breathe can affect our health, our relationships, our perception, etc. as well as reveal our state of being.
Excuse the pun, but this blog is a breath of fresh air, I have never read something so dedicated to a subject that most of us take so much for granted. How important is breathing for without it we die and by learning to constantly do it in a gentle way through the nose can so greatly improve our health with alll the benefits it brings.
Even becoming aware of your breathing is a beginning, for up until Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayons presentation on the Gentle Breath Meditations and on breathing our own breath I hadn’t realised how much I didn’t take notice of how I was breathing. The gentle breath is a great way of checking in on how I am feeling and bringing me back to being with myself. Totally agree Rachel “living is as easy as breathing, as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make the next breath gentle”.
“Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make that next breath gentle.” Absolutely Rachel, life can become a very simple choice that we get in any moment of every day. What an opportunity, no matter where we find ourselves, to keep coming back to the simplicity of ‘I choose this now’.
‘Studies show that the way we breathe affects our nervous system, hormone production, fight-flight response, stress levels, heart beat and rate, blood pressure and digestion’. Yet for almost every breath that many of us take there is no conscious awareness of the quality of how we are breathing. I am aware in times of quiet that by breathing gently with a connection to yourself and all around you this allows an increased ability to observe life and not get caught up in the emotion and absorb the reactions of life around you. You have inspired me Rachel. For the next week I am really going to step up and be more aware of my breath all of the time, not just in the quiet times and see what happens….
Thank you Rachel,
I really enjoyed reading your article and the feeling of calm and stillness that comes from inside of me when I too choose to breath gently. I love how you say that by breathing gently you are putting you back in charge of your life. I had not thought of breathing gently as doing this specifically for myself, but it so does. I greatly appreciate this awareness.
Beautiful Rachel, on the power and simplicity of our breath. From trying the gentle breath meditation I have come much more aware of how I hold my body in tension. When I’m trying to control life and situations, I can feel a tightness and tension in my arms, back and shoulders, everywhere really, and always in the apprehension of ‘how is this going to go next’. Through breathing gently and staying with myself, I am able to let go of the control (which is a futile concept anyway) of the situation, and rather just stay myself, and not allow any any situation control me. It is easier to remain unaffected and clear to know what is needed next. This has been a revelation in the unfolding.
Beautifully Said Annie,
Today has been a day where I found that I could simply be me and when I found myself going into tension, to control, or to defend, it was felt immediately and the choice to drop and be still with myself was easy to choose. What a blessing of gigantic proportions. The feeling of claiming me, how I feel and my life was so very strong. There was an innate feeling of deep trust in myself and what I choose to do.
Wow, 1700 to 2100 times a day sounds like a lot of breathing we do in a day. And it is amazing that we do it unconsciously most of the time. Choosing how I breathe and what I breathe was a new concept for me when I first heard it on Gentle Breath Meditation audio, but it simply made sense and I have been enjoying the benefit of it ever since.
Rachel I too have found the Gentle Breath meditation, life changing as I was once so unaware of how I was holding my breath when nervous or lost in conversation with another, I became aware that I was not breathing in the rhythm of my own breath I was breathing in another’s breath therefore taking on their energy and completely disconnecting from my body. The way we breath has the potential to harm or heal and this became key to return back to my own gentle breath, so simple.
When so many are looking for solutions outside of themselves, it is awesome to know that something as simple as how we breathe can have such a profound influence over every part of our lives!
So true Carmin. It is awesome to realise that through our every breath we can know everything and more than anything that we seek in the world outside ourselves. For when we connect to our breath, our bodies and our essence within we are connected to an intelligence that is out of this world.
The Gentle Breath Meditation is an amazing tool that supports me to re-connect when I feel out of sorts. To breathe with awareness and gentleness is so simple yet very power-full.
A brilliant and insightful blog. Thank for highlighting how essential our breath is to us all, equally, by bringing detail to the mechanics and effects that breathing has on us. And that the quality in which we breathe is reflective of the quality in which we live our lives. And even more empowering that we can choose how we want to breathe which in turn determines the quality in which we live our lives. Very inspiring Rachel – thank you.
Recognising the power of connecting to my breath, its quality and my ability to change the state I am in with my intention to breathe for me – has been an empowering experience.
An awesome reminder Helen of the power we have to stay with ourselves and how we can choose the quality of our being – unaffected by whatever is going on around us. truly empowering. Holding this quality allows us to stay more aware and observe situations rather than going into reaction. It is not always easy to remain unaffected by the world, but connecting to our breath and choosing the quality of how we breathe is a powerful tool to stay in the quality we choose to live and be in.
Wow Rachel after I have read your awesome blog the only thing I wanted to do is to learn this gentle breathing. Thank you so much for such an inspirational sharing.
I loved your blog Rachael, most of my life I have breathed very quietly and would often hold my breath all because I did not want to be seen. Since being introduced to the gentle breath I have come to feel parts of me that I never knew were there, feeling my whole body and connecting to the love that I am. Amazing and truly powerful. Now and again when I am aware of holding my breath, I ask myself what is it that I don’t want to feel? and then come back to breathing me.
A beautiful blog that shows the importance of breathing- what amazing effects it can have are truly miraculous. When I am aware of my breath, I just can´t be emotional, it is not possible. Thank you for reminding me, being aware of it in every moment.
It requires a high level of commitment to continually come back to the quality of the breath and bring it back when I sway, but it is oh so worth it.
Thank you Rachel, a great reminder of the importance of choosing our own gentle breath, rather than for instance constantly breathing a situation that happened earlier on in the day, which keeps our body holding that frustration too. Simply returning to our own gentle breath helps to release the body, and by breathing our own breath we are not then held to ransom as to what is going on outside of us.
So true Sally ‘by breathing our own breath we are not then held to ransom as to what is going on outside of us.’ I always tended to be like a sponge absorbing every emotion around me and reacting to situations rather than coming from the steadiness of being centred that breathing gently has allowed me to experience. Even though I can still fall back into absorbing I am much more able to recognise it and know that I have a choice in any moment to cut this and gently return to breathing gently.
Well, this should be an article on every household fridge…a gentle reminder every day on how to breathe. I love how you emphasise that the way we breathe determines whether we feel in control of life or at the mercy of what seems to come our way, like life has control over us! This has been my experience with the Gentle Breath Meditation. Rather than feeling like I am scrambling trying to keep up with everything, I feel completely settled, in my body and ready for whatever is next…
I am learning to pay more attention to my breath in each moment to keep me from the busyness of my mind.
Super aweseome and educational article. I loved what you wrote about breathing in a way that allows us to feel like you are truly living and in control of your life and not like life is controlling you. The latter seems the norm, yet the former so empowering and deeply inspiring, and such a simple choice.
What a fabulous blog! I really appreciated the exploration of breath and how it affects our health and ability to cope with life. As you point out, we breathe many times a day, so choosing how we breath has many implications across all facets of our life. I’ve found the Gentle Breath Meditation the only meditation that truly connects me to me. When I found the GBM, although it is a model of simplicity I could not instantly master the gentleness of breath because of how my patterns of breathing were – anything but gentle, probably very stressed and in reaction to life. Now it’s easy to breath gently and it is something I am remembering to do more throughout my day. I notice my breath in general is a marker for how I am truly feeling – stressed, scared, anxious etc and being conscious of this and choosing the gentle breath when I’m in reaction is very nurturing for the body. The gentle breath is the new rhythm for my lungs!
The gentle breathing is a wonderful tool to feel and delve into our innate beauty. It is a stop moment that allows us to reconnect and to experience our amazingness. Life ceases to be what it was.
Gorgeous thank you Rachel
“Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me”. Says it all really. This blog is a lovely reminder that it is a choice how we will breathe our next breath.
Simply beautiful Rachel.
Just by reading this blog I felt myself truly connect and the space it allows in our bodies by choosing that next gentle breath to be gentle. I also find by allowing gentle breathing I become so aware of my body and any areas of tension and can then let go of them. Sometimes I don’t allow myself time to do this but when I do it is beautiful and my day flows better. Thanks Rachel.
The Gentle Breath technique is quite magical really. Sometimes when I practice it in a quiet, still moment I feel quite connected ~ not only to myself but to my place in the macrocosm!
A deep truth spoken, thankyou Rachel (:
Rachel, I’m slowly learning this that who I am at any point in time is basically a reflection of the way in which I breathe. This is something I feel is a science in itself and perhaps from a philosophical point of view it might inspire us to ponder on why this is so but for me right now it’s more beneficial to practice this on a day to day basis. Universal Medicine has lots of these meditations on http://www.unimedliving.com/meditation and I can really recommend them, simple and down to earth.
I really enjoyed reading this practical and supportive blog. I particularly liked your description concerning how much you had picked up on how your patients breathe when they are being treated. I also appreciated how you bring life back to the breath and how supportive it is and how it can ‘settle’ us if we are feeling anxious or busy-headed, as you said it can have a big effect on how the body functions.
A great description of the benefits of the Gentle Breath Meditation which I have personally have found so beneficial By bringing it into my daily rhythm it has enabled me to stay much more focused and present with a calm steadiness in my daily living.
A great topic to address Rachel, thank you. It really is a profound thing, the changes that can be felt through being more aware of our breath, and how we choose it to be.
All those decisions we frantically think we have to make and all we really have to do is choose to breathe gently. How beautiful. Learning the ‘gentle breath’ has been life changing as I now have a way to deal with stressful situations, slow down, re-connect and the stress just becomes a choice to be made.
I absolutely love this blog!! It is profound in its simplicity and common sense. We do take breathing for granted and is often something we don’t think about. It was only until I took part in Universal Medicine presentations and learned the “gentle breath” mediation myself that I began to take notice of the quality of my breathing in any given moment. It has had such a profound effect on my life and has also given me the feeling of being settled in myself. When considering the internal angst and nervousness I was living in I consider it to be quite a miracle.
Rachel, I spent quiet a lot of my life not being able to breathe properly through my
nose as a result of some accident or knock as a child. It wasn’t until I had an operation
in my forties, that I could really appreciate that feeling of cool air through the nostrils
that seems to bring clarity to everything.
With breathing being an involuntary act it is easy to dismiss the powerful difference it can make to your health, so to make it a conscious act where we control how we breathe is something I have found to be very powerful. With so much stress and anxiety in our world the more tools we can use to support us the better, and what better way than supporting ourselves through gentle breath.
Thank you Rachel it is so easy to forget that how we breathe can affect how we are feeling. Before I was introduced to the gentle breath meditation by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I used to hold my breath a lot out of anxiousness and the need to get things done. Becoming aware of my breath has changed how I live and interact with people because it brings me back to me and an awareness of how I am really feeling. I really like this line because it is so simple but so true. “Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.”
As I started to read this I paused to take notice of my own breathing and continued to while reading. Through breathing gently I find my mind has a focus that is with me right in that moment rather then off on tasks, futures or pasts. My eyes can tell me where I am in the world but my breath can tell me where my inner world is – How I feel at any moment. What I am learning currently is that I can breath gently anywhere, not just in my seat but at work, on the train etc.
Hi Rachel,
My experience of the Gentle Breath Meditation is very much similar to yours – it puts me back in my own driving seat. It’s an amazing opportunity to stop and pause. In doing that I find my body is able to speak to me very clearly. After the stop and pause – the gentle breath really helps me to deepen that “conversation” I’m able to have with my body – and it will speak in more and more detail.
Really cool stuff, thanks for sharing!
Cheryl
I love this Cheryl ‘the gentle breath really helps me to deepen that “conversation” I’m able to have with my body – and it will speak in more and more detail.’ The more I am open to breathing gently the more is revealed to me and this is so empowering after so long of feeling overwhelmed and that life is dictating to me, which is was until I made the conscious choice to breathe in and out gently and change everything.
The Gentle Breath Meditation stopped me in my tracks the first time I experienced it. It showed me how far from the real me I had been living. What’s beautiful now is I don’t have to always stop and meditate I simply can choose to breath gently and then everything that I do from cooking, cleaning, working, walking etc IS my meditation.
No need to retreat to a cave for 10 years – the opportunity to reconnect is there in everything we do, and the breath is such a simple access point. Thanks for the reminder Rachel.
That’s approximately 766,500 breaths per year that are either dictating to you or being chosen by you. This shows how important it is to be aware of the breath and the body. Knowing that you can choose how to breathe and that it indeed can make a profound difference to your state of being and state of mind is empowering. Breathing gently has allowed me and 1000’s of others to be more in charge of their body and their feelings.
Thank you Rachel, an awesome blog! I too have noticed the benefits from choosing to breathe gently by adding it to my morning and evening routine. What I love about your blog is that it has highlighted to me that we have this amazing opportunity throughout the day to choose to reconnect and it’s all at the tip of our noses! Thank you for the great reminder.
Until I was introduced to the Gentle Breath Meditation by Serge Benhayon I thought breathing was part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and happened whether I thought about it or not. Most of us discover in childhood that the body eventually takes over if we try to hold our breath too long.
An item I found in a Google search said that Autonomic implies “independent” of the conscious mind and likened the breath to the lead horse that the team then follows….
People rarely realise that they are in charge of the quality of their breath and that we can choose which ‘lead’ we will follow. My life has changed so much for the better since I have chosen to check where my breath is. Is it gentle or am I breathing the emotions and/or situation I have let myself get caught up in? It has been so freeing to realise I am in charge and lead where my breath will go – which then decides the quality of life I enjoy.
This is an important note Judith – that we are in charge of the quality of our breath.
I truly enjoyed receiving what here has been shared. For Me this is the foundation for all that follows.
“Living is as easy as breathing… as easy as choosing your breath in each and every moment. As easy as choosing to make that next breath gentle.” Thank you Rachel for presenting the honest simplicity of how we are able to take responsibility for ourselves. This simple technique has revealed so much more to me and how I am, than anything I have encountered. Breathing is essential to life and observing how we are breathing and choosing to breath gently is key to how we express thereafter. Very empowering. “Breathing gently puts me back in charge of me.” Awesome blog Rachel.
So beautifully expressed, thank you Rachel. The Gentle Breath Meditation is such a simple and powerful tool and one that has supported me to make huge changes in my life and continues to do so, simply by enabling me to rediscover my gentle and calm nature again. How amazing to have that in a Dental practice, in a place traditionally regarded as a very stressful environment, WOW!
Thank you Rachel for a simple and wonderful post showing how we breathe can help us really ‘live’ our life in gentleness and harmony. I love the feeling of gentleness through my whole body when I breathe this way. It is just a matter of choice…a choice of love for me to be this way. It is interesting to notice that if I don’t consciously choose this then the breath can change to suit that which is happening around me but is not me.
Thanks for this simple sharing, that can inspire so many. I will be sharing this for sure!
Thank you Rosie, simple yet very powerful.
I Love this Blog Rachel. It explains how something as simple as choosing to breath gently can change your life, awesome.
It also shows how much command we can have over the body simply by choosing to be aware of our breath, how we are breathing and then choosing to make our breath what we want it to be.
Thank you Rachel for reminding us of how important, simple and precious it is to choose our own breath. I am reminded of all these sayings we have in our language such as “it took my breath away” – so we know this happens. Since you wrote your blog Unimed Living has launched and offers a whole library of free Gentle Breath Meditations and content that support and provide practical tools to implement what you and others have shared here.
Thank you Nicola, that was breathtaking! 🙂
Thank you Rachel for this reminder to be aware of my breathing in every moment. I will be choosing gentleness today in relation to how I breathe.
It’s a great reminder Sally, not only to breathe, but to be aware of the quality in which we breathe. The Gentle Breathe Meditation is a great tool to observe the quality of our breathe and the quality of how we are in life.
Very exquisite in simplicity and humbleness. I’ve been doing this meditation for years and years. And I can now honestly say – because I know when I’m connected to me and when not – that this has been the most amazing technique to find the real me. When I started I thought that I was close to me, now years later I can tell that I was in such an arrogance… Thank you for this amazing blog. That so many may be inspired.
We don’t know what we don’t know right?! Or is it now more true to say that we don’t know what we choose not to know or avoid looking at? I can say this is what I have discovered which has been the greatest gift and brought so much more humbleness, simplicity and openness into my life.