For 5 minutes a day (over the next month) simply observe how you breathe. It may be helpful in the beginning to find a quite space in which to do this. But also try it in other locations and notice the differences. For extra credit: Make written notes of your observations about your breathing. These notes will be valuable in future work

For more exercises like this click here 

[This is the first of a series of articles on simple, effective ways to improve health and happiness through breath awareness and mastery. This article has been taken from the IBTA eNews without permission and is © Jim Morningstar]

The Importance of Breath. To breathe is to live. How we breathe has a most profound influence on the quality of our life. Breathing correctly is the key to living fully. Most Westerners suffer from chronic improper breathing habits that are not immediately obvious. We breathe about 7 million breaths a year and the long-term effects of poor breathing are cumulative. They reduce not only the quality of vitality in our daily experience, but can lead to a weakening of our entire system and serious health issues.

January 2009 sees the launch of the IBTA's newsletter "IBTA eNews". This promises to be a quarterly publication which is:

"... designed to provide inspiring articles on breathwork for professional breathworkers and the general public, to give expert advice on the process and facilitation of breathwork and to give information on  International Breathwork Training Alliance membership and events sponsored by the IBTA."

According to the dictionary: from the Latin cor: heart; firmness of spirit, energy before danger; intrepidness; cheerfulness; bravery; perseverance.

For Jesus Christ: You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its savor, what shall it be salted with? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown away and trodden under the foot of men. You are the light of the world; a city that is et on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all that are in the house. (Matthew 5:13-15)

My great friend and fellow journey man, Marcus Mason, has just sent me his astrological overview for 2009. Its attached as an adobe pdf document which you will need to use adobe acrobat reader to open. It makes very interesting reading. Here's what Marcus sent me.

"Happy New Year and Blessings throughout 2009

At last, here is the latest Astrology Update Overview for 2009 - it is long overdue, and I know that some of you have been wondering and waiting for the latest Update.

Things have been so intense on so many levels that it has been a challenge to find the time to research and write this...but here it is.

How are you doing? Have you truly checked in lately? Or, have you been dashing full speed ahead, feeling little frantic trying to finish all your holiday and end-of-the-year lists? Well, unfortunately, I'd say I've been a bit of a frantic dasher lately (at least in my mind).

I love the holiday season, it has been truly merry, but I'm starting to feel some side effects: A little headache here and there, a craving for chocolate (everyday - which means I really need rest/balance, not more holiday desserts), and a very messy desk with duplicate to-do/to-buy lists!

There are two sides to every coin.

The opposite of most everything I write is also true,
And from time to time I find it important to make this clear.

For instance, in today's article I write, "The more you resist, the more you restrict what is possible." I think there's some important wisdom in this statement.

One of Brazil's great philosophers, Tim Maia, once said: "I decided to go on a strict diet. I cut out alcohol, all fats and sugar. In two weeks I lost 14 days”.

For 28 years I have been living with a marvelous woman who now and again loses her temper and her usual good humor because she feels that she has put on a couple of kilos. I wonder if maybe we are exaggerating a little. One thing is obesity, another is trying to stop the time and normal evolution of our organism.

Dear Friends,

I hope you and your family and friends are well. At the beginning of this month, I went to Barcelona to the first European forum of the Alliance for a New Humanity (ANH) and I loved it.

The ANH is a group of people from all over the world with a common goal in mind: to create and reinforce a more sustainable, pacific and empathic humanity.

Even though events described in this article are from 2005, I believe the conclusions are more relevant than before.