DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH
A Guide to Good Breathing
Jenny Beeken
Reviewed by Marianne Friend
When I first saw the title - I did just that - I held my breath! I read a 'should not' in it and I'm not very good with 'should nots' or 'don'ts'. Then I laughed because it was my own thoughts being activated which produced my reaction and because of this I had acted out the title. Perfect for me to read the book!
Although the many exercises and practices are yoga-based, the author emphasizes it is unnecessary to be a yoga student to perform them and to benefit from them.
The first half of the book focuses in great detail on what is happening in the body as you breathe with exercises to sup-port this. I found this part sometimes slow reading because it required great concentration on my side to understand and visualize some of the exercises. I think some of my resistance was a lesson for me to slow down and relax into my breathing - which helped me to stay 'in the moment' and not go into my head - which is really what this book is all about. I practically galloped through the second half of the book because it engaged my emotions. This isn't too much of a sur-prise, as it deals with breathing and the emotions! First of all it focuses on Sound using the breath - and Sound helps our exhaling breath and is also very therapeu-tic emotionally. The book then covers all the emotions: anger, depression, fear and sadness and shows how breathing into these in the way the author outlines in the yoga breathing exercises, can dissolve them and bring into play their opposite, positive emotion.
Two points of interest I found were:
1) The author often writes about breathing into the back body or the back of the rib cage, as this is apparently the largest part of the lungs, so that you optimize the speed at which you can breathe through an emotion whilst staying centred at the same time. You would also be more likely to respond rather than react to a situation whilst "you are strong in the back body";
2) Keeping your spine straight can help you if you are depressed - although I don't think here she is talking about chronic, suicidal depression.
The one thing I would have liked the author to have talked more about is the all-important influence our mind and thoughts have on our breathing and our bodies - and in our lives of course. Our breathing affects our mind and our mind affects our breathing. In fact, everything affects everything!
In conclusion, I recommend this little book with its clear illustrations and lovely photographs of the sea as a valuable guide to good breathing practice and the impor-tance of the awareness of our breath. Its exercises will help you to be grounded and 'in the moment', you will learn to breathe into your emotions and stay centred. Generally I think it would help anyone to become more whole.
Positive Health, February 2005