I knew my nervous system was not firing on all cylinders, I knew I couldn’t find a way to connect with the parasympathetic part of it, and I knew the Vagus Nerve was somehow involved.
I knew this because I kept seeing articles and adverts popping up on my screen which specifically mentioned the Vagus Nerve and its importance for healing. Well wholeness really. It’s the main connecting link between Brain and Gut.
The other thing I knew was that I needed to Breathe or at least explore what I needed to know further. It’s funny how everything conspires and all the little bits suddenly fly together, and you have an “Oh that’s it…” moment, with a sigh of relief.
I had been told about Breathwork and even been to one open session. And yes, breathing was some kind of relief, sort of familiar as if I’d done it before, ha, ha. But it seemed to me that I fell into the actual Breathwork Coaching course, with The Exhale Awakening. And before I could turn round, I was paid up, registered, logged in and already in Module 1, following the instructions clearly given and breathing with a relief to be there.
Only then did I say “OMG, how has this taken me so long to get here?”
Do you know what’s it’s like to meet someone with whom there is an immediate resonance. You just vibe together (sorry, showing my age). My experience is that I can’t stop talking and listening and finding that everything spoken about is so amazing because I agree with it all. It’s like we’ve known each of all our lives and even though we only met 15 mins ago.
That’s what it was like going through the Breathwork Coaching course.
Perhaps I have done Breathwork in another life. But more likely it is my body and my poor nervous system just saying “thank you”. Makes me wonder what other messages from the body we ignore.
And you know what, the Breath is the connecting piece in the whole system, in all the body systems. In fact, it is the connecting piece between the body and the spirit. In all my spiritual training how could I have missed this important fact?
I have a spiritual practice, I’ve practiced it for years, and it is simply this – be in the present moment and stay conscious. Stay conscious so that you can align with All-That-Is and move in the current together, collaboratively. And the key element, that would make everything easier, I missed.
Now I breathe consciously whenever I think of it. At my desk, watching TV, while being a passenger in a car – I probably should try it while driving, ha, ha. I tune into my breath and relax. I have learnt my default breath naturally, is the Coherent Breath. I taught myself this breath without knowing it had a name, while riding a bicycle everywhere in my student days. I used the breath to even out my breathing, so I was not out of breath, so that I could sing at the top of my voice and actually manage the tune without breaking up the phrases to pant. I didn’t know I knew, but my body did.
What a delight to meet an old friend again, and this time welcome them and acknowledge that they were always my friend and never left me. It was me that was asleep.
“For it is important that awake people be awake,
Or the breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
The signals we give – yes or no or maybe –
Should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.”
– A Ritual to Read to Each Other – William Stafford
