Feeling God: The Breath

by Melanie Weidner

My spirituality is experienced and discovered through my body. While others can and do access the Divine through the mind, I cannot. I have to let go of mine.

The simplist, fastest, most effective way that I have found to do that is by non-stop Circular Breathing. It's easy to do: you take deep belly breaths with no breaks in between the inbreath and outbreath. Keep it rhythmically flowing without gaps.

Some flavors and the Teachers that developed them:

Rebirthing- Started by Leonard Orr. This is the most intense form of this form of breathwork. You just keep going with this one, never slowing down, never hestitating, always pushing through any and all physical or emotional resistance. Often done in water for an increased experience.

Holotropic Breathwork- taught by Stanislov Graf. He combines the music with the breath. This form is not quite as aggressive as Rebirthing. It invites you to push through resistance but also to slow down if you feel the need.

Radiance Breathwork- The technique taught by Gay and Katie Hendricks. It's a much softer, gentler form of breathwork, taking time to get the throat and body adjusted, slowing things down from time to time, diffusing the energy through the body, then increasing the breath again. You are invited to push through resistance, but to build to that point, possibly through numerous sessions.

I've done all three in the past and found them all effective, are all very powerful tools for transformation. I cannot stress enough that although they seem simple, and they are simple to do, the power they hold should NOT be underestimated. I will caution you to have someone assist you as the sensations can get extremely intense and it helps to have a knowledgeable guide to help you move through them.

Medicine will tell you that the things you experience all have to do only with hyperventilation. You can expect to feel numbness around your mouth as a first sign. If this happens, you can get a bag to breathe into. Make sure that you are breathing in as strongly as you breathe out (less CO2 is lost that way). Your hands and feet may go into tetany. Your whole body may contract in pain with the continued breathing. But I can tell you that these sensations have more to do with letting go of emotional baggage than some mere chemical imbalance. Both I and many I have assisted or been in groups with experience a complete cessation of these symptoms when an emotional block is released. When we let go of whatever we are holding on to, bodies release the tetany, we feel light and free, energy swirls, the world shimmers. This is where we re-unite with God.