Browse published articles attributed to Dan Brulé, with full-archive search.
In the beginning we are told was “the word." But behind the word, before the word, is an even greater power: the breath. In the end days it is said that all the secrets and mysteries will be revealed. The end days must be with us, because today the breath itself seems to be revealing those secrets to us. It turns out that the secret of life has been hidden right under our nose all the time!
Breathwork is the art and science of applying breath awareness and conscious breathing for health, growth and change, in spirit, mind and body. Breathwork brings together ancient wisdom and modern science. Breathwork is practiced by people from every walk of life, and every level of society. It is recommended and used by virtually all holistic, alte ative, and complimentary health care programs and practitioners. And most of the leading experts in the field of self-improvement and personal growth apply breathwork in their personal lives as well as their professional practice.
It is no coincidence that the archer has always been associated with Zen. Archery is used in sport, in war, for hunting, for survival, for self-mastery, and simply for enjoyment. And so is the breath! The force that builds up in the bow as you draw it back is like the force that builds up in your body as you inhale. The force that is released when the arrow flies is like the force that is released when you exhale.
Breathwork uses Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing for health, growth and change, in spirit, mind and body. It makes use of specific breath and breathing exercises and techniques for personal growth, professional development, and spiritual awakening.
There are some big differences in the philosophy and approach to breathwork—and always have been. Two methods that seem to run counter to much of what is generally taught and practiced today immediately come to mind. The first is the Buteyko Method. When I first went to Russia in 1990, you could not mention breathing without someone bringing up his name. He was somewhat of a legend in the USSR and I knew we were destined to meet for one simple reason: it seemed that our philosophy and approach could not be more different.r
If you’re a health nut or a fitness junkie, take note. If you’re into self-improvement or spiritual development, pay attention. If you’re an artist or a performer, a counselor or a therapist, an athlete or a coach, a speaker or a healer, or simply a student of life, then breathwork is for you!
A Breathwork Technique For Eliminating Stress And Strain Once and For All! It has been proven again and again that laboratory rats develop stomach ulcers, shrinkage of lymphoid tissues, enlargement of adrenals, as well as heart attacks, kidney disease, arthritis and more when constantly "attacked" by bright lights, loud noises, extreme temperatures, and constant or repeated frustration. And there seems to be no doubt that the same things can occur in humans when exposed to such stress.
Many people underestimate the healing power of Conscious Breathing, and that's unfortunate, because by controlling or regulating our breath, we can regulate and control many of our body's vital chemical and biological processes.* An ancient saying: "When you own your breath, no one can steal your peace."
Birth and infancy traumas can affect people well into adulthood, and even for their entire lives. Many emotional and psychological issues, and dysfunctional patterns and tendencies can be traced back to birth, infancy, and early childhood. For the first few years of our lives we are basically in a hypnotic trance. We have no discriminating consciousness. Everything that happens, to us and around us, is downloaded directly into our subconscious mind.
The human heart is like a radio transmitter: it generates an electromagnetic field that can be easily measured from 50 feet away. And, the energy field that it generates is 500 times more powerful than that of the brain! Do you know about “Heart Rate Variability?” This refers to the natural tendency of the heart to speed up and slow down with each breath. Heart rate variability is a sign of a healthy heart, and an indicator of overall well being.
When doing breathwork, we often focus on the pauses in our breathing pattern. We practice eliminating them and we also practice lengthening them. By working and playing with the pauses in our breathing we can access powerful inner resources. We can dramatically enhance our creative and athletic abilities, and we can trigger profound improvements in our health and wellbeing.
This month I start a series of articles on the practice of Breathwork, beginning with the two basic aspects of the practice: Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing. You can think of these as yin and yang aspects, active and passive practices. Breath Awareness means simply observing the breath, watching the breath, noticing the breathing… witnessing it. This is the passive aspect. You don’t breathe in any particular way: the breaths come and go by themselves.
Here is a startling fact with profound implications: Nearly 60% of the 911 ambulance calls in most major US cities are related to dysfunctional breathing habits. And the most common dysfunctional breathing habit is by far, hyperventilation. In other words: “over-breathing.” And despite all the hype you may have heard about “deep breathing to super-oxygenate” your cells, the fact is: almost anyone can reduce the supply of oxygen to their brain by more than 40% in less than one minute, simply by hyperventilating.
Ignorance is not bliss! When it comes to your breathing, what you don't know could be hurting you, both in the short and long term. Your breathing habits can have a surprisingly negative effect on your health, and wellbeing, on your athletic and creative abilities, on your performance at work, and in your everyday life. Here are just a few signs of "bad" breathing—problems and conditions caused or made worse by poor breathing habits:
I'd like to share with you some of the points that we cover in the Stress and Breathing, Burnout and Breathwork Seminars. This is a body-mind-breath approach to preventing burnout and for recovering from it. In the Chinese tradition we would say that we "regulate body, regulate mind, and regulate breath."
At the seminars recently, we have been focusing on breathing and pleasure. We are using breathwork to enhance our enjoyment of life and the world, and to increase our happiness, and our love and acceptance of ourselves and each other.
I’d like to share with you a spiritual breathing exercise, a form of Spiritual Breathing that Breathworkers around the world have been practicing lately. There is no name for it yet, but maybe with practice, you will be inspired to give us one! Visualize this. With the inhale we invite life force energy—spirit—to awaken and rise up from our center or source. With the exhale we fall down or drop down into our center. While inhaling we pull energy up from our innermost core, from our heart. While exhaling we relax and surrender into the divine spirit within.
Breathwork (breath and breathing exercises and techniques) can unleash powerful forces and healing energies within the mind and body. It can accelerate growth and healing on many levels: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and behavioral. Medical experts agree that breath awareness and breath control can improve your general health, and help in the prevention and treatment of a host of medical problems.
People often ask me: "What is the single best exercise to practice—what is the most important technique we need to master?" Actually, there are three basic skills I think every Breathworker needs to learn—three things I teach to just about everyone who comes to me for Breathwork training.
This is the third article in a series on Breathwork Practice. First we talked about the Two Basic Aspects of Breathwork, then we discussed Two Core Techniques in the Practice. This month, I’d like to talk about the 3 Convergences in Breathwork. Some people will find that they have already been applying these breathwork secrets intuitively, without realizing it.
Over the last 30 years, the art and science of Breathwork has made its way to the cutting edge of the human potential movement; and it has found its place at the forefront of mind-body medicine. Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing are studied and taught wherever consciousness and spirit, science and religion, or loving hearts and open minds come together for good.
Breathwork is my passion, as in “pass-I-on” and my profession, as in “profess-I-on”. And Today, I am celebrating the fact that I have not failed to write at least one breathing report/article every month of every year since September of 1976! At times over the years, I waited on the muse or myself or inspiration until the last minute, and as a result, several times I was a day or two late in meeting my self-inflicted moral obligation!
One of the advanced breath mastery skills we teach, and practice is “sucking” tension and fatigue out of the muscles with the inhale and releasing it from the body with the exhale. With practice, anyone can learn to use the inhale to pull energy from tense tired muscles, and then vent it from the system with the exhale. If you are an athlete, fitness junkie, or a high performer, this is an extremely valuable skill to develop, and so it is well worth practicing.
Everyone breathes but unfortunately very few people breathe very well. That’s why Breathing Training is becoming more popular than yoga and meditation! And that’s why it’s the fastest growing trend in the fields of health and wellness, fitness and performance. How we breathe matters. When we allow our breathing system to decline, we set ourselves up for every kind of illness and ailment. In fact, more than 100 diseases are caused, triggered, or exacerbated by unconscious, unhealthy breathing patterns.
Rebirthing-Breathwork Leonard Orr, the Father of the Rebirthing Movement, recently passed away. He left behind a living legacy, and I am grateful and blessed to be part of that legacy. In honor of Leonard, this month I would like to write about Rebirthing-Breathwork.
As 2019 is coming to a close, I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite breathing quotes. By the way, if you have any that you would like to share, please send them on to me at: dan@breathmastery.com There are certain points in breathing which you have never observed, and those points are the doors – the nearest doors to you from where you can enter into a different world, into a different being, into a different consciousness. (Osho/Rajneesh) When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace. (Author unknown)
One of the core techniques we master in Breathwork is the “Connected Breathing Rhythm.” It’s the Rebirthing Technique, also called Circular Breathing. The main thing is that there are no pauses or gaps between the breaths. The inhale connects to the exhale and the exhale connects to the inhale in a smooth, steady, continuous pattern. It should feel like a wheel turning.
I believe that the consciousness movement is the most important movement on the planet today. And given the current state of affairs in the world, the study of consciousness is more important than ever. I believe that growth in consciousness is the only way to lasting happiness and world peace. I believe that the next leap in human evolution will be a shift in consciousness. And I believe that breathwork can cause that shift.
This month we are focusing more deeply on “2-Phase Breathing.” It is a way to develop more breath awareness and more breath control. The idea is to explore the active and passive phases and the reflex and neutral points in the cycle. To start, imagine a round clock. Divide the circle in half by drawing a vertical line from 12 to 6. The left side represents the inhale (from 6 up to 12), and the right side represents the exhale (from 12 down to 6). 12 o’clock represents a completely full inhale, and 6 o’clock represents a completely empty exhale. These two points are reflex points.
A practical article connected into the broader SelfGrowth topic graph.
There is a lot of talk about stress and burnout these days, and so this month I’d like to focus on the role that unmanaged emotional energy plays in the stress and burnout cycle. I’d like to talk about using breathwork to prevent emotional exhaustion and to recover from it, because unmanaged emotional energy may be the biggest single cause of stress and burnout in general.
I think it was Rudolph Steiner who said, “we live with our soul in the breath.” That bit of insight and wisdom is worth meditating on! Our breathing is controlled by physiological or biological needs—chemical and mechanical processes. And it is also controlled by psychological and emotional needs—conscious and unconscious processes.