Breathwork is the generic term for specific breathing exercises where the breathing is done in conscious and systematic ways, with specific pur...
Silence is the space in which sound can exist.Stillness is the space in which life comes to life.~ Ralph Marston
As I address this topic, I find myself asking several questions. How will I convey the importance of quieting your mind while I am giving it something more to think about? What exercises would ignite a spark of desire within you to spend time in silence? How many words do I write about the value of being still when modern day life is like living in the center of a constantly shifting whirlwind that never stops. Every hour of every day is filled with a frenzy of duties, activities, obligations, commitments and responsibilities. How can I inspire you to look for the stillness in the midst of such chaos? These are the questions I consider.
“Everything breathes: breathing is the inspiration of Life within all living forms of reality. All matter is in a continual state of particle exchange. In humans, breathing is the biological basis and spiritual expression that renews life, propels awareness and focuses body-mind functioning in time and space.” (1st Principle of Conscious Connected Breathing - J. Youst)
Therapeutic Breathwork is the purposeful application of conscious, connected breathing one-on-one or in a group setting, guided by a skilled practitioner and the Spirit of Breath, and held within a sacred container of a therapeutic intention, relationship and community.
Over time, the practice of breath awareness naturally deepens and expands to include the awareness of many other things in us and around us. Some of these things seem so obvious…we have to wonder how we could have missed them for so long… why it took us so long to “get it!” For example, isn’t it obvious that our thoughts and feelings affect our health and well-being? Negative thoughts feel bad, and positive thoughts feel good!
When we think kind, loving and grateful thoughts, when we are open and caring, generous and humorous, we feel good, light and happy, don’t we? Those thoughts and feelings are sweet and pleasant. When we consciously choose loving, caring, compassionate, kind, accepting, soft, or humorous thoughts, we feel wonderful, don’t we?

I'm *finally* healthy after a very sick winter. I'm happy. I love my beautiful wife. The sun has come out here in Portland, at least some of the time, and my kids say the Cutest Things in the World every single day all day long.
Sounds like love, doesn't it?
But, what I described above isn't the whole picture. There are some real challenges in life. We're hiring a new operations person. We're deeply examining our business model. We're contemplating some big projects. And the first three months of this year have been BUMPY.
Does that sound like love?
This is an Annular Eclipse, which means that the Moon is positioned further away from the Earth than at a Total Eclipse, so it does not completely obscure the Sun, but leaves a ring (annulus) of sunlight visible around the Moon’s dark disk. According to NASA’s Fred Espenak, “annular eclipses have a special charm all their own. During an annular eclipse, sunbeams turn into little rings of light. The best place to see this is on the sun-dappled ground beneath a leafy tree. Hundreds of circular shadows can be found there.
It seems that Solar Eclipses have a profound effect on the Earth’s subtle energy grids and ley lines. All powerful events that occur on Earth leave energetic memory imprints in the Earth’s energy grids. These can become amplified and perpetuated by the energy flow through the grids, which is fed by the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets overhead. Powerful negative imprints, such as war, misuse of power or emotional trauma can block or damage the energy flow in a particular region of the planet, causing the energy to become distorted.
For the entire month of July, health and fitness expert, author and motivational speaker Joe Kita undertook the evaluation of how much affect mindful breathing and the breath has on one's life. In his CorePerformance.com website column, One Small Change, he basically followed the principles of our book, "Perfect Breathing," to see if conscious breathing could help him sleep better, battle road rage, pressure and anger, perform better, and stay healthy (especially while traveling and especially in airplanes, those giant germ incubators).
His results helped lend significant credence to what we've been espousing for many years: Learn to breathe mindfully and you take a huge amount of control over every dimension of your life. It's not rocket science, and pays huge dividends for those who strive to make mindful breathing part of their everyday lives.