Still strongly influenced by a mechanistic, Newtonian worldview most of us have been regarding life as nothing but a complex and accidental evolution of biochemical processes. Accordingly, we have considered breathing to be a mere means for a life-giving gas exchange through our lungs, nothing more than something that simply takes place, very much like the constant beating of the heart or the growing of hair and nails.

Many of us have grown old without wasting much thought on something as simple and obvious as breathing. Why then is the interest in breath and its meaning as a healing and transformational tool on the rise? What is it that people seek and (re-)discover in turning to their own breath (awareness)? What is it that has long been motivating people in the Eastern traditions to devote decades of their lives to the study of the human breath?

As human beings we carry within ourselves the potential for self-realization, creation, destruction, unconditional love, expansive peace, pain and joy. We are just beginning to get a sense of our own awesome, potentially infinite complexity. We function on many levels simultaneously, within ourselves and in connection with the "outer" world. Every thought, every emotion, every muscle movement, every word spoken registers instantly in our breath.

Breathing is the only bodily function that can be under both voluntary and involuntary control. This little fact is of utmost significance, because if everything registers in the breath and if the breath can be controlled then e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g can be conversely impacted by the way we breathe. Breath becomes an interface between the conscious and the unconscious, a bridge between body, mind and spirit.

• Releasing stress and tension
• Building energy and endurance
• Cultivating emotional mastery
• Preventing and healing physical problems
• Managing pain
• Cultivating graceful aging
• Enhancing mental concentration and physical performance
• Facilitating psychospiritual transformation and growth

Fritz Perls, M.D.

A) Conscious control and manipulation of breath
(doing - masculine principle)
As practiced, for example, in:

• Pranayama (Yoga)
• Rebirthing
• TransformBreathing

B) Conscious experience of the natural breath
(allowing - feminine principle)
As practiced, for example, in:

• Ilse Middendorf's Experience of Breath
• Certain forms of meditation

C) A combination of A and B

Our Western culture has been thoroughly exploring the virtues, possibilities and dangers of a predominantly materialistic/mechanistic way of dealing with the world and with life. This could be referred to as the 'masculine principle'. We have learned to conquer, to act, to probe into space and matter, to fragmentize and dissect, to organize and structure linearly, to solve conflict through opposition and battle, to control and manipulate life and nature, etc, etc...

As progressive and necessary as it has been to discover and explore life through the masculine lens, we are now world wide in the deficient stage of this particular exploration. Everywhere around us are the harmful and life-threatening signs and results of this. The condition of this planet we live on, of nature, air, water, of our foods is a direct reflection of the condition of our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits. The Earth is aching and so are we.

The healing of us as individuals is fundamental to cultural and global healing. For this reason, I consider a 'feminine' approach to Conscious Breathing, at this point in time, to be a better contribution to the healing many of us yearn for.

While the dominance of the masculine principle reflects a general imbalance, it does not mean that there aren't any individuals who wouldn't benefit from approaches to Conscious Breathing listed under A.

Ultimately, however, I believe that where we are going is to leave behind the distinction between masculine and feminine altogether. Beyond a certain point this distinction becomes artificial and limiting. But this belongs on another page...

Ilse Middendorf

• The average person breathes 15 times a minute; 21,600 times a day; and 7,884,000 a year.
• The average person breathes 500 cubic cm. Intake of deep inhalation is about 6 times as great, amounting to almost 3000 cubic centimeters
• Most people have about 300,000,000 alveoli in their lungs (and if one could flatten each one of those out and lay them side by side they would cover an area greater than an average one-bedroom apartment - or 100 square meters)
• The human body was designed to live with an air content of 38% oxygen. In polluted cities today oxygen content levels have been recorded at a mere 12%-15% - figures barely above the 7% cut-off point below which humans cannot survive.
• The human body is designed to discharge 70% of its toxins through breathing. Sweat, defecation and urination only account for a small percentage. If one doesn't breathe optimally, other body systems, such as the kidneys, are overburdened and stressed, possibly leading to various other dis-eases.
• 90% of metabolic oxygen comes from breathing. 10% comes from food.
• Respiration disorders are a leading cause of death in adults and a major epidemic that has risen by 50% over the last decade in the current population of children.
• 75% of doctor visits are for health problems that are complicated by stress and tension.

Sheldon Saul Hendler, M.D.