By Ray Bratcher
“The body can heal the mind faster than the mind can heal the mind.”
—Leonard Orr, discoverer and founder of Breathwork
What does this mean? Well, say for example, someone suffers from anxiety. I could use other examples–depression, fear, anger, lack of abundance, loneliness, bad relationships, weight problems, career burnout, lack of fulfillment, etc.–but for now, let’s make it an anxious person. The usual advice they’re going to get is “think positive” or “think happy thoughts” or “don’t focus on the negative” or “you shouldn’t be so negative”, etc. None of this is going to help much. Yes, it is possible to stop being anxious by refusing to allow negative thoughts and forcing yourself to think only positive thoughts, but most people don’t have the mental discipline to pull this off for any length of time, so the anxiety comes right back. If it even goes away at all, since we aren’t as in control of our thoughts as you may like to believe.
Thoughts are often an effect, not a cause. A person enters into an uncomfortable situation that they perceive as stressful, and their body responds physiologically. The jaw clenches. The muscles around the eyes get tight. Digestion shuts down and the stress hormone cortisol is released into the bloodstream. This physiological state is felt as the emotion called “anxiety”. All this information is transmitted to the brain, where the mind sees it’s “job” as being to come up with a reason that explains the anxiety. “My boss hates me. She’s going to fire me. I’m going to lose my job. How will I survive then?” These are the kind of thoughts that may arise. Then the person thinks they feel anxious because they are worried about their job. But the anxiety arose first, then the thought came later to justify it.
Anxiety is often a free floating thing, arising from unconscious fears not related to anything happening right now. But once the mind supplies the thought/cause “my boss hates me”, the person finds it almost impossible to think otherwise. Even evidence they might experience in their relationship with their boss that their boss doesn’t hate them, will be reinterpreted or misinterpreted by them to “prove” that their boss does hate them. For example, they were asked to lead an important project not because their boss thinks highly of their capabilities, but because they are being “set up” to fail, so the boss will have an excuse to fire them. Then those thoughts create even more anxiety, and the person’s actual performance can begin to suffer. A vicious circle is created that is very difficult to break out of.
So, again, in such a situation, and trying to heal the mind with the mind, the usual advice would be for the person to “reprogram” their mind by, perhaps writing postive affirmations like “I now have a positive relationship with my boss”; “My boss values my input”; “My success is assured”, etc. And make no mistake about it, this can work, but it takes a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of discipline. There is an easier and more effective way: using the body to heal the mind.
The procedure is this: you simply lay down and breathe in a way that almost immediately induces relaxation. Because the breath can access the autonomic nervous system, it can be used to change the body’s physiological state very quickly. The jaw unclenches. The eyes relax. The digestive system returns to normal, and the body no longer responds by releasing cortisol. This new physiological state is felt as the emotion called “serenity”. And of course, the mind then does it’s job of justifying this new emotion with a “rational reason” and now, finally, the person is able to think “happy positive thoughts”.
We tend to think of the mind, the emotions, and the body as three distinct and separate things. That’s a product of our upbringing in the western analytical tradition. The word “analysis” actually comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “to break up” and refers to the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. That has it’s value, but we forgot to put them all back together again!
The truth of course is that the mind, emotions, and body are NOT three separate things, but are, rather, an integrated interdependent WHOLE. Functioning together so seamlessly that any change in one cannot but have an affect on the other two. And of the three, the body’s state is the easiest to change, and the breath is the easiest way to change it. For my clients, I use a combination approach of working with both the mind and the breath for even better results. There really is no better feeling in the world than watching someone’s face light up with joy after they’ve healed something they’ve not only been struggling with for years, but have also been blaming themselves for, because they couldn’t “just think happy thoughts”.
And those unconscious fears, the root cause of all the trouble? We also get at those. They usually arise from early traumatic experiences at birth or in infancy. Even career burnout is almost always related to infancy trauma. Don’t let the word trauma give you the wrong idea, though. The people who come to see me are not usually damaged and traumatized individuals suffering serious mental problems. In fact, quite the opposite. They are usually successful, well-adjusted, highly motivated people committed to their own growth, who are unwilling to accept what is considered the “normal human condition” of “life sucks and then you die”.
Nearly all of us, you see, were traumatized at birth and infancy. When the umbilical cord was cut before you were using your lungs, you almost suffocated to death. When you lay helplessly in your crib, unable to move to satisfy your basic physical needs, you felt abandoned, frustrated, and enraged. In order to survive, you learned to compromise your authentic self, and you have been dealing with the resultant limitations ever since. These are just some of the normal human traumas that give rise to the “normal human condition”. They can be healed and those limitations released. This process changed my life; in fact, it probably saved my life! Which is why I am so passionate about it and so eager to share it!
Ray Bratcher (Karma Yeshe Dorje) was trained in Rebirthing-Breathwork by Leonard Orr (the modality’s discoverer and originator) and has been a Rebirthing-Breathworker and Trainer of Rebirthing-Breathworkers since 1995. Formerly Lead Trainer and Executive Director of Rebirth International, the main training center for the worldwide Rebirthing movement, he currently resides on the tropical island of St. Croix with his wife, is ordained as a Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, has been designated a “Global Breathwork Leader” by the International Center for Breathwork, and is a Member of the Association for Spiritual Integrity. He has also received Third Degree Sekhem-Seichim-Reiki Initiation from Master Teacher Rev. Diane Shewmaker, M.A., L.P.C.,C.P.C., and Second Degree Melchizedek Synthesis Reiki Energy Mastery from Susan Anthony (Author of “A Map to God”) during Wesak at Mt. Shasta. No one is ever turned away for lack of money.
Sacred Breath 