A Breath of Fresh Air

     Central to Zen meditation (zazen) is maintaining attention on the breath in the lower abdomen (hara). With patient, persistent practice, this cultivates both a stabilizing & energizing force - anchor, ballast & power plant - not just during meditation, but throughout life. This practice is central to all Chinese, Japanese, & other Eastern martial arts & is the basis of "core strength" in gymnastics, diving, dance, figure skating etc.

     A baby sleeping on her back will breathe slowly, regularly, the chest remaining still, the abdomen slowly rising & falling. This is normal, healthy abdominal (diaphragmatic) breathing. When a deep breath is taken, first the abdomen rises (due to the diaphragm bowing towards the stomach, thus displacing the abdominal organs outwards), then near the end of the inhalation, the (intercostal) muscles between the ribs become activated, expanding the chest. On exhalation, the intercostal muscles relax, the chest returns to normal, then the diaphragm relaxes, allowing the abdomen to return to normal.

     This is very efficient breathing and is naturally slower than the way many today breathe - chest breathing - which is intentionally (self-consciously) holding the abdomen in, and breathing primarily in the upper chest.

     James Nestor wrote a very interesting short article (based on his book: "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art"): https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/26/every-breath-you-take-the-lost-art-of-breathing?utm_source=pocket-newtab  In it he writes about the benefits of abdominal breathing:

     "But lest we forget, nature is simple but subtle. For me, the perfect breath is this: inhale for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale for 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 litres of air. You can practice this perfect breathing for a few minutes, or a few hours. When we breathe like this, breathing practitioners suggest that circulation in the brain and body will increase while the burden on the heart decreases. All the while the diaphragm – that umbrella-shaped muscle in our chests – will drop lower and rise higher, allowing more air to enter the lungs and assisting in pushing blood throughout the body. For this reason, the diaphragm is sometimes referred to as 'the second heart', because it not only beats to its own rhythm but also affects the rate and strength of the heartbeat."

     A key component needs to be added - the quality of our relationships. A surprising number of us relate to our own breath much like the new owner of a car who has absolutely no interest in or affection for their car other than to use it to go places. Disconnection / dissociation from not only our own breath, but also from the rest of our body, from our own deepest values, from our family, friends & co-workers, from our community, from the environment, from nature, from the present moment, from our very life - is more common than we realize AND is profoundly alienating, lonely & unhealthy.

     A small but important step towards re-establishing a healthy, normal relationship with life is through our breath. A normal healthy relationship is modeled by our hands. How do our left & right hands naturally relate to each other? That's a deep question to silently ponder - and then bring to ALL of our relationships.

     We can all use a breath of fresh air in our lives.

Being Grounded

"Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself.
I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections,
but always rise up with fresh courage.
How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbour's faults
if we are impatient in dealing with our own?
He who is fretted by his own failings
will not correct them.
All profitable correction
comes from a calm, peaceful mind.”                  St. Francis de Sales

     The above words profoundly affected me this morning. Perhaps from a Zen perspective they were "a turning phrase." Who knows? I immediately felt as if my trunk was being held in a wonderfully warm, secure, lovingly nurturing basin - in a chalice of timeless, unconditional love. This transformative felt sense, like all other phenomena, will change. Though it's effect may persist, because perhaps it's a remembering & reconnection with the ground of being - of being grounded. Again, words are inadequate.
     The quote is a reminder of the central importance of treating ourself with the same unconditional love & endless patience we would bestow a beloved toddler or puppy under our care.
     The experience is a reminder that endless, patient practice - for an entire lifetime - keeps releasing, peeling away, physical, mental & emotional armors, energy blocks, and even attachments to our many security blankets, slowly but surely liberating us from the prison of our conditioning AND feeling rooted & competent in this material yet mysterious world.
     The physical location of this warm, reassuring gut feeling is the hara or dan tien, described in Japanese & Chinese wisdom / martial arts traditions as being 2 inches below the navel, right in the middle of the body. It's considered a vitally important power / energy center. Zen meditation is focused on the physical feel of the breath in this area - "cultivating the hara." In East Indian wisdom traditions, this is one of the chakras along the vertical core of the body, along which kundalini energy moves. Here, as in traditional Chinese medicine, the central theme is releasing / clearing energy blockages to allow the free flow of vital energy throughout the entire system.

     The following are long but IMHO very worthwhile interviews. If they don't resonate, no problem, they may (or may not) later - even decades from now:  
Bonnie Greenwell discusses kundalini energy:
https://batgap.com/bonnie-greenwell/
Adyashanti & Francis Bennett (Parts 1&2) - discuss broader aspects of awakening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYgnk-pknBc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSwUrB0v1ms

Our Human Body, The Universe, & Finding Home

     "In the Vajrayana traditions of Tibet, in the yoga traditions of India, in Taoist meditation in Taoist yoga, and elsewhere in world religions, the human body, and the totality of the universe, are equivalent realities, only in a different scale. To put it in another way, the human body (microcosm) is the reality of the totality of the universe (macrocosm), with all of the space, all of the eventfulness, all of the energy, all of the vast display, only happening in a different frame of reference, a different scale – the scale of the human body. 
     When we do somatic descent, it’s very important that we have this understanding. At the end of the day, the ultimate mysteries, the ultimate sacredness, the ultimate power, the ultimate immeasurable expanse of the universe is actually present in our human body. Now we can say that these are equivalent realities happening on a different scale, but there’s one way in which they’re not equivalent, and that is that we don’t have direct access to the infinity of the universe. But we do have access to the infinity of the universe in our body. So the external universe can only be known by observation, measurement, deduction, and we’re very reliant on scientific technologies to know about the universe in its most expansive extent. But within the human body, we are given the opportunity to experience those very same cosmic realities through direct experience, through the non-conceptual experience of our body. ...
     What we’re saying here is that when we breathe into the lower belly (hara or dan tien), and we discover the space – the empty, open, vast space – that is the source of our life, in our lower belly, we feel this is me. This is really me. And when we bring that energy up and we uncover it, discover it in the central channel, we feel this is my core. If I’ve been wondering my whole life who I am, and if I have been looking my whole life for my identity as a person, my ultimate identity that will be unshakable in the face of any storms and any onslaughts, we feel, we experience, that this is me. It’s probably one of the deepest experiences of human life. This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been. And we see that it’s indestructible, and it’s neither born, nor dies. 
     This experience of our eternal aspect, again it’s not abstract, and it’s not theoretical. It’s one of the most intimate, personal, affecting experiences you can ever have in your life. Once you discover that space in your own body, in your lower belly, and in your central channel, and you see for yourself, in terms of your own experience, that this is who you are. It gives you a different foundation for your living."

       Reginald A. Ray “Somatic Descent.” Sounds True, 2016. 
       www.soundstrue.com/store/somatic-descent.html

Courtesy of Buddha Doodles www.buddhadoodles.com