The Sounder Sleep System consists of gentle, pleasurable, mental and physical practices that ensure deeper, more restful sleep. It is a path of self-healing for insomnia and the stress of life.
One of the core features of the system is the principle of “breath harmony.” Breath harmony lies at the foundation of all of our sleep-enhancement techniques.
The principle of breath harmony is not hard to understand. It simply means accepting our breath as it is, from one breath to the next. When we accept our breath as it is, we are in a state of “breath harmony.”
Many systems of self-healing utilize breath control exercises for various purposes, but that is very different from breath harmony. Control of the breath often leads to excessive effort, stress, and anxiety. The real breath harmony is already right there inside of each one of us, right now. There’s no need to control anything. We simply pay attention to our breath, and as we do so, we accept it, as it is, without the intention to change it.
When we pay attention to our breath like that, we may notice that some breaths are longer, others are shorter. When we accept each breath as it is, whether longer or shorter, we are practicing breath harmony.
When we pay attention to our breath like that, we may also notice that some breaths are faster, others are slower. When we accept each breath as it is, whether faster or slower, we are practicing breath harmony.
When we pay attention to our breath, we may notice, too, that some breaths are deeper, others are shallower. When we accept each breath as it is, whether deep or shallow, we are practicing breath harmony.
Now there’s one more thing we need to know: sometimes, when we pay attention to our breath, we will control it—we will make it longer or shorter, faster or slower, deeper or more shallow—even though we don’t mean to. This is a result of the interaction between our physical body, which breathes according to our ever-changing metabolic needs, and our mental mind, which has ideas and beliefs about how we ought to breathe. Even though we don’t intend to control our breath, our mind compels us to do it, unintentionally. I call that “uncontrollable control.”
In that event, the secret of breath harmony is to remember that “uncontrollable control,” whenever it may occur, is a normal, natural feature of our breath. In fact, it gives us a fascinating opportunity to observe the interaction between our thinking mind and or living, breathing body. Therefore we accept “uncontrollable control” just as it is. We don’t try to do anything about it. We just let it happen, and observe it, as it happens, from one breath to the next. As long as we don’t intentionally try to control or manipulate our breath, we remain in a state of breath harmony.
Your breath is an essential part of yourself. When you practice accepting your natural breath as it is, you are engaging in a very profound practice of self-acceptance. Each time we fail to accept ourselves as we are, each time we criticize, belittle, or devalue ourselves, our nervous system becomes overexcited and our body contracts, producing physical and emotional distress. Self-acceptance is a healing balm to both the mind and the body; it has a powerful tranquilizing effect on the nervous system and a relaxing effect on our muscles and our internal organs. Self-acceptance is therefore a valuable tool for self-healing.
Breath harmony can be practiced very simply at any time during the day or night. All you need is a few moments to stop what you are doing and pay attention to your breath. You can practice for longer or shorter periods of time, as desired. Sometimes, a complete practice might last ten minutes or more; other times it might last just one breath! When we are in harmony with our own breath, we feel a delightful sense of tranquility. It makes our life more peaceful and our sleep more restful and more pleasurable.
Why not give it a try?
Learn more about the Sounder Sleep System.
Train to be a teacher of the Sounder Sleep System.
Purchase a recording of nine Sounder Sleep System techniques.
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