I’ve received more answers to my question “what is your way of thinking of your practice?” and I’ll share them. But I’ve had a few people ask, “Just what is this ‘conscious breathing’ you’re talking about?” Maybe a story is the best way to illustrate it.
I’m always open to inspiration when I teach, and sometimes it comes. So 30-some years ago, I was as curious as anyone when I first explained the Breath and Water practice. Particularly the part about your life changing in ways you never could have imagined. Practice what you teach, I said to myself, so I set about doing just that.
I have an unquiet, busy mind, and it took me literally years to get to the point of being able to breathe for 15 minutes with my awareness solely on my breath. That’s why I started the Breath and Water Club in 2004 – I needed the support of a group. And I suspected others did, too.
After experimenting with fifteen minutes, then ten, then five, I began my Breath and Water journey with just one minute of Conscious Breathing at a time, and often even that was too much to ask. But I persevered, adding a minute every now and then. In the Breath and Water Club newsletter, I suggested some breathing techniques that could occupy one’s mind while breathing. They proved to be a good bridge for me to get from being unable to focus solely on my breath to being able to.
Bit by bit, minute by minute, year by year, I began to relish the experience of being one with my breath. After several years, I would sometimes find myself completely immersed in my body, my awareness encompassing every aspect of it. In that state, I might experience my body as sound – limitless harmonies of rhythm, tone, and color. It is an altered state, for sure. Immersed in that harmony, “I” disassemble and then reassemble as some other “I,” vast and infinitesimal. Sounds psychedelic, doesn’t it? Amazing what we’re capable of!
So that’s Conscious Breathing – allowing yourself to focus on, but not necessarily control, your breath. To be aware, to participate, to feel your breath.
The Breath and Water practice is 15 minutes of Conscious Breathing twice a day, and 8 glasses of water a day. Then, experience your life unfolding in ways you never could have imagined. 😊
The Breath and Water Club had a newsletter. You can still read it! https://www.jettsophia.com/breath-and-water/