DAILY PRACTICE FOR NEURAL PATHWAYS

Eileen O'Hare

Power Down and Breathe!

In this world of apps, apps and more apps offering us everything we think our brains need in order to learn more quickly than we could ever have imagined; what I am about to suggest may surprise you. It may even make you feel uncomfortable, if you, like me, have become a bit compulsive about sending and receiving texts. Turn your cell phone off. And breathe. Long…Slow…Deep…Breaths…Into…Your…Belly.

A beautiful medicine man names Fools Crow taught that any state of consciousness could be shifted into a higher state of consciousness through seven deep inhales and exhales taken with intention. I have found this to be true, especially in the “What the…?” moments which seemed to happen quite frequently for me in 2014. You?

Our brains need a break. And our brains needed a break before cell phone use sent us all around the next bend. Anxiety is epidemic in our culture. We are crazed. Deep belly breathing is an antidote for anxiety. It’s free. No permission from your insurance company needed. And it’s a prescription only you have the power to refill. The only cost is your time and attention. Precious, I know. And so are our brains and their ability to do whatever we need them to do as long as we take care of them.

Every morning, we have the right and responsibility to retrain our brains that its essential to be able to be quiet, to be alone, to sit in silence, to be out of contact. Each evening we have the opportunity to step away from the screens and power down not only our external equipment but our internal processor as well.

We literally come into ourselves through deep belly breathing. We meet ourselves, who we truly are, all that we are, have been and will always be. Don’t think of this as trying to meditate. Just stop doing. Focus on your breath. Bring it deep into your belly. One long slow ‘yin’ inhale partnered with one long slow ‘yang’ exhale for 20 minutes.

The first 10 ten minutes you may feel antsy. I sometimes look at the clock –“How much time has passed, is this over yet, can I turn back on and ‘get busy’ again?” No. Keep breathing. And then the magic happens. I seem to tumble over into what feels like a mystical abyss or void. The push and pull of life recedes and it’s just the breath. My ‘trying’ to focus upon my breath has disappeared and I am simply breathing deeply, luxuriously. I find myself at rest. Sometimes wisdom emerges, sometimes not. But I know this is the portal. It’s delicious.

In the cosmology of the Q’ero, it’s said that the head is one of Creator’s great gifts to us. The head houses most of our senses and our brain. These are gifts we are invited to learn how to use well in this lifetime, to be treated with respect and appreciation and love. We don’t leave our cars running 24/7. We have even been known to turn off the TV occasionally. Could it be that we treat our VitaMix better than we treat our brain??

I make a prayer for you now. I pray that you offer yourself your own time and attention and give your beautiful brain a well-deserved break with breath.

Eileen O’Hare is a legacy carrier in the Peruvian Mystical Tradition. She is a priestess/healer/teacher in healing ways shared by the Q’ero; in the lineage of Don Manuel Q’espi, Don Benito Q’oriwamann, Don Mariano Apasa and Don Andreas Espinoza. Eileen founded The Mesayok Medicine Spiral Community in Beacon, NY. She co-created The Andean Healing Energy Cards and two CD’s of music designed to help people practice the shamanic healing arts. Eileen is a member of BlisSing, a sacred chanting group in the Hudson River Valley. www.eileenohare.com

Photo by: Leea Gorell

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