Observing mind & body thru breathing

Staying fit has a lot to do with the interdependence between mind and body.

One simple way to start becoming more conscious of this interdependence is to pay attention to our breathing.

If we were to take a car trip from New York to Chicago, we wouldn't dream of trying to get there without an adeqaute supply of gas, and refueling as needed.

So, how come we neglect breathing, which is the fuel our body needs to function optimally.

Oh, yes, we breathe - it's an automatic function of our body. But all-too-often, this breathing is shallow. We deprive ourselves of a significant portion of the oxygen we could be circulating through our system - and hence deprive ourselves of a significant portion of the energy and aliveness we could be bringing into our lives.

One path to personal growth is simply to follow our breath. We make a decision to observe our breath, to notice when it is shallow, and to make efforts to breathe more fully.

We follow a practice - for instance, yoga exercises that help us breathe more deeply, pranayama, paying attention to breathing while jogging, or breathing meditation...

We pay attention to what happens, noticing when we enjoy this, and when we start resisting the practice (e.g. when we tell ourselves: "Not today, I'll practice tomorrow").

The analogy of breathing and using fuel during a car trip is gratefully borrowed from John Pierrakos, MD (co-founder of Bio-Energetics and founder of Core Energetics).