We are complex creatures aren’t we? Even the autonomic nervous system is in on the seemingly unending paradox of living while dying at the same time. Its two aspects work in opposition to each other: the sympathetic system helps the body activate (accelerating pulse, increasing blood pressure, and muscle tension) while the parasympathetic system does the opposite (decreasing pulse and blood pressure, relaxing muscles). Inhalation stimulates the sympathetic system, and exhalation stimulates the parasympathetic system. When under pressure, we tighten and tense by unintentionally inhaling longer than we’re exhaling- you might catch yourself at it the next time you read an exasperating email.

Try its antidote: lengthen the exhalation for twice as long as the inhalation. Pucker your lips and press the air out as though you were blowing on a hot cup of tea. Listen to the sound and squeeze your navel back. Empty out. And when you are ready to inhale again, pull the breath gently through your nostrils.

Sustain this breathing pattern for even a minute and your heart rate slows, your blood pressure drops, and your muscles begin to relax. Catch the wonderful feeling of fresh air, and then let it go.

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It's hot. I'd prefer to be… not. This breath comes in over the tongue and goes out through the nose, which makes it feel cooling and relaxing. Put the breath on an equal count to give the mind something to map and measure, and use gentle movement of the head to alternately hug the thyroid and massage the spongy bits of the cervical vertebrae.

How to:

Curl your tongue lengthwise into the shape of a straw and press through your lips Inhale deeply through your tongue, as if drinking through a straw, tilt your head up towards the sky  

Exhale slowly and completely through your nose, pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth as your bring your chin back.

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Raise your arms to 60 degrees with the palms facing up like cups. Connect the thumbs to the ring fingers with the lightest possible contact. Begin by pumping the breath out through the nose, pulling the navel back toward the spine with every exhalation. The inhalation is passive.

Activate your navel — snap it back as you exhale. Inhale, and let the belly softly respond to the natural influx of air. If you are able to do so, increase speed to 2-3 pumps per second. This is a very stimulating breath technique that will very quickly invigorate you. 

Feel the sensation of heat moving all the way up the back. Place your attention in your armpits as your outer arms rotate in towards your face. Keep your upper arms in line with your ears to open up windows in your living quarters; send antennae through the crown to open up your skylights. This way, you circulate a breeze through your whole house. Connect to the pleasure of effort and heat for ≈100 rounds.

To finish, take a deep breath in, interlace your thumbs above your head, take three small breaths in, squeeze yourself from bottom to middle to top, and then exhale, pop the cork, let it go.

NOTE: If you are new to it, place one hand on the abdomen, so you can feel the belly bouncing.

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This practice is subtle: both invisible and inaudible. Its imagery extends the sense of skin into the lungs and the feeling of lungs into the skin. The billowing body becomes soft and sensitive, unfurling and releasing without dynamic intervention. An equal count is added for measure, making the practice both relaxing and enlivening.

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There are five necks in the body: the wrists, the ankles, the neck. Necks are narrows, they are bends in the river. It is at riverbends collect detritus. Use the easy alchemy of breathe to let soft sweet currents move freely. This active practice utilizes the tight incubator of your throat to consolidate your poetry. Pull up the nectar, and let it nourish and soothe the back of your mind. The only difference between poison and potion is measure.

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Like a wild horse, the breath can be unpredictable, powerful, alert. To cultivate the experience of being both horse and rider requires intimacy without manipulation. But first, we construct a stable. Using the count of 4 (or the measure of a square), we invite the wildness of the breath into a container in to set the conditions for this proximity. The framework offers the stability of a stable, the definition of paradise is a walled-in garden. When you release the practice, observe where your spontaneous and natural breath leads you. With friendliness and curiosity, witness where you roam.

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A dominant attribute of our attention economy is overwhelm. Too multiply connected, hyperlinked, we drown in conversational currents and social circuits. Overwhelm leads to more overwhelm, stimulation to saturation. Noise-canceling earbuds in, we numb out. 

How do we catch our breath?

Nothing is more immediate than one’s body, always entangled and interspecies, a complex ecology of ongoing dialogue with reality. We are bound together through breath. All living beings share breath and time, making us equally vulnerable, ephemeral, and precious. This breathing corporeality is the locus that can draw the future to the present.

Every week, I will offer paid subscribers a pre-recorded, guided breathing practice. Each technique is based on a deck of breath cards for the past seven years. A beta version, beautifully designed by Jason Bacasa, will be available this summer.

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