WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS
+ Continuing with the 12 styles of the Mandala
process, we are exploring the style of the Body.
+ May we be mindful
through our Breathing.
This is the fifth of Edward Bastian’s 7 steps ofInterSpiritual Meditation
+ Breathing teaches
you everything you need to know –right under your nose.
-- Gay Hendrix
This is the quote in The
Mystic Hours by Wayne
Teasdale for Day 251
+ Breath is the
bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your
thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to
take hold of your mind again.
-- Thich
Nhat Hanh
+ Think of your
body as a musical instrument, a wind instrument. Your breath, accordingly, is
the wind through the instrument. As such, it is the single most important
aspect of yoga technique. Traditionally considered the primary carrier of prana
– life force – your breathing originates deep inside you, radiates outward and
then inward, providing a gentle and steady rhythm for movement, stretch and
release. Sometimes you will breathe softly, other times with vigor, but the
breathing itself will always be a central and governing focus. Proper breathing
brings the poses to life, inspires every subtle shift and movement in every
yoga posture, and can help center your awareness in your conscious experience
of the now.
This is the opening paragraph of The
Wind Through The Instrument, a chapter from Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into
Stillness by Erich Schiffmann
+ Breathing techniques are an important part of the
practice of Yoga. Way back in the beginning of this exploration I highlighted
the teaching of a great Yoga teacher, Erich Schiffmann. Unfortunately the links to a chapter in his
book, Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into
Stillness on stillness
which I put in SE
post 6 and SE
post 7 no longer work but you can read his great quotes in those
posts. He has a wonderful chapter
on Breathing in that book which is available online at a different website than the one I had
found years ago. I will have to go
through my website and edit quite a few links.
+ We explored the Journey of the Body practices of solitude, devotion and holiness in SE posts 105 to 160.
+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.
+ To get inspired and illuminated by Ed Bastian, I invite you to set aside some time for these videos:
+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice. And, I have work to do on my Heavenliness page. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Heavenliness” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.
+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html
