Breathing As Spiritual Practice

Author : Will Johnson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 162055688X
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breathing as Spiritual Practice written by Will Johnson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to meditative breathing practices in Western religions and how these practices provide a direct experience of God • Reveals how Western spiritual traditions, such as the Book of Genesis, the Jewish teachings of ruach, and the poetry of Rumi, contain hidden instruction for meditative breathing practices • Explains how breathing practices can bring all of us, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, closer to a direct experience of the palpable presence of God • Provides guidelines and best practices for meditative breathing through a personal journal of the author’s own meditative retreat Surprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath. In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God. Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.

Author : Christine Valters Paintner
Publisher : Broadleaf Books
ISBN 13 : 1506470688
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breath Prayer written by Christine Valters Paintner and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Breath Prayer is an insightful guide to reclaiming this practice of the heart--harmonizing the sacred rhythm of the body with words that sing to the soul--in every moment of the day." --Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Eternal Heart Whether reciting the gathas in Buddhist practice, the Shema in Judaism, or the Jesus Prayer in Christianity, for centuries the practice of breath prayer has helped center people from a variety of faith traditions on the sacred in everyday life. Through brief words of prayer or petition said silently to the rhythm of one's breath, this simple, meditative act combines praise for the divine with focused intention, creating a profound spiritual connection in the quiet, and even mundane, moments of the day . In Breath Prayer, Christine Valters Paintner, online abbess of Abbey of the Arts, introduces us to this spiritual practice and offers beautiful poem-prayers for walking, working, dressing, cleaning, sitting in silence, doing the dishes, living in community--breathing the divine into our daily lives. Over time these recitations become as natural as breathing. We don't so much recite the prayers as the prayers recite us, guide us, and open our hearts to the everyday sacred. With each of the forty prayers, Paintner includes reflections on life's ordinary beauty and heartfelt advice for discovering the sacred all around. Breath Prayer concludes with guidance for creating your own breath prayers to deepen your practice.

Author : Roger D. Joslin
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1466852798
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Running the Spiritual Path written by Roger D. Joslin and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Running the Spiritual Path is Roger D. Joslin's compelling and inspiring guide to making running a spiritual sport. Imagine achieving physical fitness and spiritual growth simultaneously. Roger Joslin's step by step program is an engaging exploration of his conviction that spiritual well being is as likely to happen while running along the trails of a favorite park as it is within the more traditional settings of neighborhood churches, synagogues, or mosques. Through awareness, chants and visualization, and through attention to the most evident aspects of the present moment--the weather, pain, or breathing--the simple run can become the basis for a profound spiritual practice. In Running the Spiritual Path Roger D. Joslin combines the insights gathered from thirty years of running, with a personal spiritual journey that is guiding him to the priesthood. While drawing from and exhibiting an abiding respect for the traditions and sacred practices of the world's great religions, the author describes a heretofore-unexplored method of sacred running, of bringing meditation and a prayerful communion to the running trail.

Author : Will Johnson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1594777101
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breathing through the Whole Body written by Will Johnson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the Buddha’s own words on breathing meditation for healing, wholeness, and a deeper understanding of his teachings • Explains the complete series of steps in the Buddha’s Satipatthana Sutta for refining awareness of the breath, from posture and center of gravity to extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body • Shows that stillness in meditation refers only to the mind, not to the body • Reveals breath to be a direct agent of healing for chronic tensions and an agitated mind Explaining how stillness in meditation refers not to a rigid and frozen body but to a quality of mind, Will Johnson examines the Buddha’s own words at the core of the Satipatthana Sutta: “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body”--an instruction often overlooked in the majority of Buddhist schools. Exploring the Buddha’s complete series of steps for deepening awareness of the breath, he shows how to invite natural, responsive movement back into the posture of meditation by extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body--a practice that unifies the breath, body, and mind into a single shared phenomenon. Showing how the flow of breath is directly affected by chronic tensions in the body and in the mind, Johnson explains that when breath starts flowing through more and more of the body, it becomes a direct agent of healing, massaging and melting any areas of tension it touches and moves through, whether physical or emotional. By breathing through the whole body in accordance with the Buddha’s instructions on breath, the body becomes much more comfortable, the mind starts resolving its addiction to thinking, and meditative practice deepens much more rapidly, allowing the teachings of the Buddha to be directly glimpsed and revealed.

Author : Santosh Sachdeva
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9788188479900
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.0X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Eight Spiritual Breaths written by Santosh Sachdeva and published by . This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It is good of you to have come to pay homage to your Master and be with him in his final hours. But what would have been even better is that you would have continued with your practice." - The Buddha to his disciples When Padmasambhava, the renowned yogi and teacher at the University of Nalanda migrated to Tibet with a select group of disciples, he continued to share his knowledge with those he considered worthy to receive it. According to legend, among his teachings was a set of powerful Breathing Exercises designed to help human beings realise their highest potential. Centuries later, a spiritual seeker from the West journeyed to Tibet to learn this sacred knowledge. After returning, he formulated a course based on these Breathing Exercises that he taught to his students, and also offered through correspondence to spiritual aspirants everywhere. In 1977, this course of Breathing Exercises was taught by Swami K. S. Ramanathan, founder of the Brahma Vidya Mission in Mumbai. The author herself completed this course under the guidance of her guru, Justice M. L. Dudhat. A sincere and dedicated practise of the Eight Breathing Exercises, along with their respective Affirmations, can result in: enhancement of creative potential increased levels of calmness improved health and higher energy levels achievement of personal goals in an effortless manner. The course provides one with all the necessary steps required to achieve mastery of ones life across all dimensions. The Eight Spiritual Breaths is intended to serve as a guide to aspirants on the spiritual path and enable an increased and better understanding of who we are, and why we are here. This book has come at a time when we are now ready to take the challenge and responsibility of our own personal and spiritual growth.

Author : Lewis Richmond
Publisher : Avery
ISBN 13 : 1592407471
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Aging as a Spiritual Practice written by Lewis Richmond and published by Avery. This book was released on 2012-12-31 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a Buddhist perspective on aging well, with anecdotes of the author's experiences with illness, aging, and transformation, and guided meditations.

Author : Richard Dahlstrom
Publisher : Harvest House Publishers
ISBN 13 : 0736922148
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book O2 written by Richard Dahlstrom and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invites readers to embrace fresh perspectives on prayer, the Word, solitude, and creation, and continue to sustain their spirituality through hospitality, generosity, service, and obedience to Christ.

Author : Edgar Williams
Publisher : Reaktion Books
ISBN 13 : 1789143632
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breathing written by Edgar Williams and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2021-05-05 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our knowledge of breathing has shaped our social history and philosophical beliefs since prehistory. Breathing occupied a spiritual status for the ancients, while today it is central to the practice of many forms of meditation, like Yoga. Over time physicians, scientists, and engineers have pieced together the intricate biological mechanisms of breathing to devise ever more sophisticated devices to support and maintain breathing indefinitely, from iron lungs to the modern ventilator. Breathing supplementary oxygen has allowed us to conquer Everest, travel to the Moon, and dive to ever greater ocean depths. We all expect to breathe fresh and clean air, but with an increase in air pollution that expectation is no longer being met. Today, respiratory viruses like COVID-19 are causing disasters both human and economical on a global scale. This is the story of breathing—a tale relevant to everyone.

Author : James Nestor
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0735213631
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breath written by James Nestor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR “A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe—and how we’ve all been doing it wrong for a long, long time.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat Pray Love No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly. There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences. Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is. Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

Author : Jennifer Tucker
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
ISBN 13 : 140023459X
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Breath as Prayer written by Jennifer Tucker and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Find hope amid anxiety through the spiritual practice of breath prayer in this beautifully illustrated and practical guide to connecting body, mind, and spirit during times of stress. Breath as Prayer will lead you through the practice and the proven health benefits of Christian breath prayer: intentional prayers centered around Scripture that focus our minds on Christ as we calm our bodies through breathing. Breath as Prayer offers: More than 80 breath prayers focused on Scripture, along with brief meditations Gorgeous original full-color illustrations A quick-start how-to guide to refer to as needed Guidance on how to implement a breath prayer practice The science behind breath work and prayer and why it works An invitation to reflect on the effect of breath prayers on your body With a beautiful foil-accented cover, Breath as Prayer is an ideal gift for: Anyone experiencing stress, anxiety, or fear Grief and anxiety support groups Prayer groups and prayer ministries Men and women looking for new avenues for connecting with God Teens and young adults dealing with stress and anxiety Adult baptism and confirmation God created our bodies, minds, and spirits to be intimately connected with one another. Purpose-filled breathing is one of the most effective, calming ways to integrate all aspects of who we are, especially during times of intense stress. Breath as Prayer invites you to the crossroads of Christian contemplative practice, Scripture, psychology, and science to deepen your faith, bring peace to your body, and discover a new reliance on Christ. Breathe deeply, lean into God's Word, and discover why every breath can be an invitation to pray.