Breath is defined as "the air that you take into your lungs and send out from your lungs when you breathe: air that is inhaled and exhaled in breathing." Dictionary. com makes it sound so formal, and it even took me a few times to read and reread it to truly appreciate what the definition actually says. It's such a natural part of our everyday lives, but many don't take the time to give it a second thought; including myself. Why? After all, it's not like it's the foundation of life or anything.
So when a friend of mine invited me to a breath work class in Venice, I accepted without hesitation. How hard could this be? It's just breathing, right? On our drive from the valley to Venice, my friend warned me that it was going to take me out of my comfort zone. My curiosity definitely peaked, but I still wasn't convinced that it was going to be challenging. Little did I know, I was about to have one of the most out-of-body, life-changing experiences ever.
I walked into your typical Pilates studio with reformer machines set up, and gorgeous instructors with perfect bodies (don't forget I live in LA) stretching out their clients. The woman at the front desk directed me to a little room in the back of the studio. I was immediately welcomed by the smell of sage and a hug by a very striking and fit bald man. My initial impression of Jon Paul was "this should be interesting," but then he started playing his music for our breath work including a Cake cover of "I Will Surive," and he let the F bomb fly, and I knew we would get a long splendidly.
Jon Paul had us each take a mat and offered us a blanket. I took the blanket because every one else did. Little did I know it would be an instrumental part of the experience I was about to have. He had us all lay down and for the next 20 minutes we would be breathing in and out of our mouths. There was even a rhythmic pattern that he had us follow... stomach, chest, exhale, repeat.
After 20 minutes, we switched from breathing in and out of our mouths to in and out of our noses with our tongue softly hitting the roof of our mouth and letting all of our muscles relax. At this point, I reached for my blanket, because ironically enough I was freezing! This is when it happened, that life changing moment. Within 10 minutes, I was crying uncontrollably. I couldn't stop! I thought I was going to stop breathing because I couldn't catch my breath. Finally, my lip stopped quivering and I was able to get it together. By that time it was time to do some guided meditation and we were asked to think about moments in our lives where we felt gratitude and love and take those moments and hold onto them. It's amazing how in my 29 years of life, I could immediately think of those moments when I felt those feelings the most.
When the class was wrapping up, Jon Paul had us surrender in child's pose for a few minutes and then come into a circle where we ended class with a meditation prayer. When the lights came back on, I could not even begin to comprehend what just happened. I felt relaxed and like the weight of the world had been lifted. My soul felt at peace. I looked around at all of the faces in the room and I could see the transformation in all of them, as well. We each had our own experience, but we all had the same end result. It was amazing!
On the drive home, my friend and I just talked about what just happened. I was so thankful to her for sharing this moment with me. It was something I needed and apparently unknowingly craving in my life. I was raised Catholic, but in my adult life I never associated with any religion really. I considered myself spiritual but it was in this moment that even my spirituality was not really present in my life.
Since taking that class, I've done a modified version of the meditation almost daily on my own. I never realized that in such a transitional period in my life, this would be the saving grace.
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