This interview with Dennis Lewis was first published in the Fall 2000 issue of The Empty Vessel, A Journal of Contemporary Taoism.

Empty Vessel: What's wrong with breath holding?

Hello Everyone,

If you haven't done it yet, go to www.whatifthemovie.tv. Watch the trailer for the movie: "What If?” It will be released in the next few weeks. If you liked "The Secret” or "What the Bleep,” you'll love "What If!” The film is about overcoming limitations. It's about human potential and what keeps people from fully expressing it. And I have the honor and the pleasure of being in it!

In the beginning of the 17th century the French philosopher René Descartes made the philosophical statement "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist. This short statement came to change the western worldview quite drastically. Before Descartes the predominant view was that body and soul were created and controlled by God. Being God's representative on earth, the church was therefore the ultimate authority that controlled all human activity.

The attached pdf file is an article that hgas been contributed by Dennis. It's on oxygen, and the "Greening" of your bio-terrain through breathing, with a background on cancer and breathing, and a summary of body pH and how breathing affects it. It was written by me and recently published in my holistic health magazine here in Montana, Natural Life News & Directory.

 

I am a frequent contributor to Robert Moore's Breathe Magazine in the UK. I have attended and taught at the GIC before, the one in Canada (2006).

To read Dennis' article you will need to download the attached PDF file.

- Do you feel there is a power outside of you that directs your life?
- Do you feel that your life is passing you by?
- Do you seem never to be able to complete things?
- Do you find it difficult to surrender to love?
- Do you feel that life is an endless struggle for survival?
- Do your relationships with others leave you feeling confused?
- Are you addicted in any way?
- Do you find it difficult to adjust to change?
- Do you feel vulnerable under certain circumstances?
- Is the feeling of responsibility sometimes overwhelming?
- Do you expect others to help you solve your issues?
….

Leonard Orr, the founder of modern day rebirthing, will be in Greece for a Rebirther Training Workshop on Mykonos from October 25th until November 2nd 2008

Breathwork or Rebirthing's predominant characteristic is simplicity. Rebirthing starts with lying down, relaxing and, breathing. Long and careful attention to the relaxed breath will reveal a many layer pattern of inhibitions and exposes our unconscious patterns of defence against pleasure and aliveness. When these are noticed (no longer unconscious) we can neutralise and integrate these patterns of past-time tension by breathing through them with present time awareness of safety. It offers a gentle and effective way to reveal the latent pristine state of body and consciousness which we all experienced in the pre-natal time and which was pushed back by the shocks of birth and early relationship. Our relationships can be clear and complete only when we dissolve our resistance to having that ideal condition. Unconscious birth memories bar the way as a closed portal on the path back to bliss. Breathwork will help you find the key to unlock that door.'

Seishindo Somatic Coaching Use your body as a second source of intelligence
A workshop with Charlie Badenhop and Marleen Adriaensen

October 2-3, 2008
in Antwerp, Belgium

Do you find yourself unable to help certain clients without really understanding why?
Would you like to intuitively follow the lead of your clients, rather than attempting to apply a fixed set of theories and techniques?
Have you discovered that helping people change the way they think, often doesn't help them change the way they behave and feel?

Find out more by going to our website
http://www.seishindo.org/workshops/2008/08oct.html

Technorati Tags: getting real, seishindo, charlie badenhop, body intelligence

This interview with Dennis Lewis was first published in the Fall 2000 issue of The Empty Vessel, A Journal of Contemporary Taoism.

Empty Vessel: Once you have become convinced, can you then use the breath to clear or balance these states?

Dennis Lewis: Well, first of all, the process of being convinced is a lifelong one, because our tendency is to confuse knowing with understanding. But yes, you can begin to work with the breath in such a way that it brings a new sense of internal balance. You don't need work with the breath all the time, day in and day out. Even if it were possible, that would just add to your tension. But if you spend 20 or 30 minutes a day sensing and observing your breath, your tensions, and your emotions, you will begin to become ever more increasingly convinced that something is not quite right, that all of these tensions and constrictions and negative emotions disharmonize the flow of energy and keep you from living as a whole being in harmony with yourself. So you continue the work of self-observation, you continue the work of following the breath toward the unconscious aspects of yourself, to make them more conscious.

Mindfulness is being aware of yourself, others, and your surroundings in the moment. Well-known mindfulness teacher, Jon Kabat-Zinn, defines it this way Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. I also like to think of mindfulness as the art of inhabiting your own life with kindness and acceptance.

A brief introduction to breathwork and emotional healing

• Breathwork for Emotional Healing is a form of body psychotherapy that uses breathing techniques for self-exploration and emotional healing.
  
• By breathing in certain ways, unresolved emotional experiences, forgotten memories, buried feelings, energy blockages, and unconscious attitudes surface.
• Whatever comes up can then be dealt with in subsequent counselling sessions.