Healing Others

There is an ancient and respected belief that GOOD INTENTIONS THEMSELVES HAVE GREAT POWER. The clear and focused INTENT to contribute to the healing of another person may gather energy unto itself and launch your intent across a great distance. The breath seems an appropriate vehicle to intensify and deliver such intentions.

Gathering and Giving for Others

1. Breathe deeply and quietly until you feel centered and calm.
2. Imagine you are inhaling a measure of universal energy with each incoming breath.
3. When you feel serene and energized, select an image, a message or a feeling that you believe is the most appropriate for the circumstances. Remember, it is your INTENT that matters more than the content of your thought.
4. Let your heartfelt intentions and thoughts travel with each exhalation to the person or situation you have chosen. It is important, of course, to keep your own energy level up so you continue to have something to give.

Nothing is lost by contributing your strength and courage to someone in crisis. Your INTENT is a gift of hope, given with an open heart and with no strings or expectations attached. Send positive energy on its way and have faith that it was the right thing to do. Did your friend or the stranger improve? Survive? Hopefully. But, if not, you have not failed. TO TRY AND TO CARE IS TO SUCCEED. As old Erasmus said, “Give light and the darkness will disappear by itself.”

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Silkwind Breathing

Part of the complexity and brilliance of your pulmonary system is that your breathing changes speed in accordance with demands being placed on your body/mind at any given second. All this happens automatically (although you have the power to intervene and go from Auto to Manual when it suits you). Cool.

However, when you overburden the pulmonary system you interfere with this exquisite engineering. Your pulmonary system is brilliantly designed to handle occasional assaults but modern man is piling on errors beyond what the body can handle at this point in human evolution: stress, drugs, cigarettes, air pollution, building toxins, inactivity, too much sugar, not enough exercise. . . .

The breath should flow easily and smoothly in and out of the lungs at a speed that is appropriate for who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Notice for a moment if your breathing is steady, even and smooth as a silk ribbon sliding between your fingers. Or is it uneven and raggedy? Are you holding your breath? Does the breath feel as if it is flowing all the way down to your bellybutton or does it stop behind your second shirt button?

Slow steady smooth breathing allows your body time to do triage on the incoming air. Since breathing is the bridge that spans mind, body and spirit, steady breathing has the power to calm your nerves and make your spirit more available.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Death By House?!

Indoor air pollution is rated as one of the top five environmental risks to health and quality of life. Did we actually believe that once we were locked inside our homes that we would be safe from harm?

Smog alerts come and go. Fortunately for us and for our children, they are not a constant threat (yet). Your lungs get a few days relief in between the bad-air days.

I trust you have carbon monoxide alarms around the house, that you have had all appropriate appliances checked for possible gas leaks and that all containers marked “danger” are safely locked up.

But consider the potential pulmonary damage from the synthetic stuff inside the house because these irritants are CONSTANT and RELENTLESS and CUMULATIVE. Man-made glues, plastics, preservatives, paints, stains, and such let off volatile fumes that irritate delicate respiratory tissues especially in children.

EVERY DAY, even in winter (sorry), you need to bring fresh air into your house. Open windows at opposite ends of the house. Turn the oven vent on “high” at the same time to help draw the air in. Every few minutes of cross-ventilation helps.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Good Green. Bad Green

Green peas. Green apples. Green tea. Green eyes. Green green grass of home. Lovely.
Green snot? Not so much.

When the beautiful clear protective mucus that you normally spit, swallow or blow out appears green for longer than ten days, you may have upgraded your basic run-of-the-mill viral head or chest cold to a bacterial sinus or bronchial infection. Congratulations! REMEMBER THAT ANTIBIOTICS ARE USELESS WEAPONS IN A VIRAL WAR BUT THEY CAN ALMOST ALWAYS KNOCK THE CRAP OUT OF BACTERIA.

Get thee to thy doctor immediately for an evaluation, expert advice and pills that work against your particular bug. Of course, you are smart enough to continue taking your antibiotic until the bottle is COMPLETELY EMPTY. Even though you may feel better after the first few pills, you need to obliterate the few remaining bugs that can lurk in the damp and dark nooks and crannies of your head or chest. From the few come the many!

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Snot Is Your Friend