Breathe: An Enlightened Living Handbook

By Carol Martin

The allowing and full acceptance of your breath equals the allowing and full acceptance of your life. Becoming more conscious of your breath and learning to allow it to deepen naturally is a surrender to your life and your being. It is a powerful and loving act of acceptance that speaks to every cell in your body. It is the key to the door of your own evolution.

“Your book will have profound effects on my life, at many levels. I am totally in love with it! I am full of superlatives about its look and feel and the deep wisdoms that it contains. You have expressed these with simplicity, expansiveness, and power. I can't say enough...” —Jocelyne Traub, Faculty Member with the Morya Federation and Teacher of the Ageless Wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carol Martin
• Release date: Jun 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311212719

Book preview

Breathe

By Carol Martin

This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer.

Breathe, Published by Carol Martin at Smashwords

Copyright 2016

Original Cover by Actually

Book Design by Erika G. Simon

When I surrender to my breath in meditation, connecting to Earth, Heart, Soul and Source,

I become the spiritual scaffolding that creates the spaciousness I need for peace, harmony and growth. This leads to a deeper breathing rhythm which activates the Vagus Nerve, frees up the energy center governing the nervous system as a whole, and invites into my expanded consciousness whatever requires processing – noticing, addressing, and releasing. My inner voice, connected to intuition, imagination and creativity is heard rather than suppressed and my inner critic, who can be helpful but also very undermining, isn’t running the show.

I’d like to thank the following people for their help with the creation of this book: Elizabeth Bufton for her many hours of reading and meeting to discuss in the initial editing stages; Sherry Lee Patrick for her perseverance in finding the true origins of quotes and her much appreciated support; Nancy Moore for her finely honed eye, her good writing sense and the proof reading; Virginia Turman for her proof reading, feedback and encouragement; Erika Simon for her skills in getting me into print and making it all happen, and her kind, empathic spirit; Amanda Chamberland & Christine Whone from Actually who designed the original book cover and produced the first e book edition; and last but not least Edward Moll for his brilliant editing and recording skills in creating the audio book and without whose coaching, and dedication to art and friendship, the audio version would not have happened.

Chapter 1

Introduction

The information in this handbook comes from a lifetime of observation and an unswerving commitment to never give up the hope, that in our own small way, we all make a difference.

By its very nature, life presents us with the opportunity and the power to make a difference. The most important thing I’ve learned is that when I get out of my own way, the process of life and enlightenment becomes more graceful.

Helping clients to become aware of their breath has created a co- creative practice for me, with clients gaining greater benefits. In addition, it has improved my life by maintaining my wellness and my spiritual center.

Think of your mind as your greatest tool, and when misused your greatest enemy. Energy follows thought and when it is joined with the heart, which is our first brain to develop, things change dramatically for the better. A heart-centred perspective takes the quality of our thoughts from a lower vibration to a higher one. We are all of us in transition, moving from a limited perspective, to living from an unlimited and unselfish one. Supporting this transition naturally and safely is what this handbook is about.

Opportunities to Evolve are Everywhere!

What is unendingly amazing is how many opportunities abound in our daily lives provided we are present enough to notice. This ability to be in the present is an issue. When we stop long enough to be still, our minds can become crowded with thoughts and feelings which aren’t always helpful or illuminating. Thoughts can repeat, circle in on themselves and interfere with our life’s process as opposed to facilitating it. Our mind can be downright annoying and a great hindrance!

Information Overload

Have you been listening to your thoughts lately? Thoughts, like feelings, need loving attention, rather than judgment, so they can finish and come to a natural conclusion. Be present to them, hear them out, see where they need and want to go. Support them by giving them some space and time rather than let them unconsciously repeat and run the show. Too often our responses to life go unnoticed by us because we don’t take the time to listen to them. We have a too much in not enough out syndrome in our culture and internal space can get lost in the shuffle.

As humanity shifts from its emotional polarization to a more mental perspective, our challenge is clearly in understanding the mind and our relationship to this amazing