Lee Al - Perfect Breathing: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time

PERFECT BREATHING

Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time

Al Lee and Don Campbell

Perfect Breathing: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time

Published by Al Lee and Don Campbell

Copyright 2013 Al Lee and Don Campbell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever including Internet usage, without written permission of the author.

Dedications

This book is for my wife, Lee, and my daughter, Brenna, without whose constant love, support, and giggling slapfights I could not have even begun this project. I hope Ive taught you to breathe.

To my dad, Donald Brian Campbell, Sr., who breathed his last in November 2005. He taught me to never worry, especially about things over which I have no control. In his own small way, that message informs every breath I take.

To my mother, Joyce May Burr, who always told me to make good history. It was she who taught me how to squeeze the most out of this life.

And to Teri Joyce Burr, Dana Katherine Bennett, Lyn Elaine Campbell-Turner and Shelton Matthew Bennettfor teaching me what family means.

Don Campbell

This book is dedicated to Alexis Valerie Halmy, who reminds me every day how good it is to breathe. Your unwavering love, encouragement, belief, and patience mean more to me than words can ever say.

To my parents, Robert and Donna Lee, who taught me the most important lesson of my lifeloveand who instilled in me the belief that nothing was beyond my reach.

To sister Cindy, and brother Chris. Every child should be so lucky.

Al Lee

Acknowledgments

We could not have written this book without the help of the mastersspiritual sages, scientists and researchers, scholars, athletes, adventurerswhose work, drive and ambition, successes and failures all helped us learn just how powerful and awe-inspiring each breath truly is.

We are especially grateful to Jean Auel, Chungliang Al Huang, Takao Nakaya, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Levine, Mehgan Heaney-Grier, Jennifer Kries, Ed Viesturs, Steven Memel, Dawn Hupp, Saki Santorelli, Ralph F. Fregosi, Lt. Col. Jack Shanahan, James Canfield, Gulmast Khan, Alberto Salazar, Brother Ramananda, Dr. Erik Peper, Debbie Rosas, Hidayat Inayat Khan, Marcella Brady, Heiner Fruehauf, Dan DeProspero, Dr. Johanina Wikoff, James Finley, Deborah White, Bikram Choudhury, Joan Halifax, and everyone else who opened a door. The insight youve provided is invaluable.

Our heartfelt thanks go to Mollie Glick at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, who saw the vision, as well as Steve Magnuson and Patty Gift at Sterling Publishing for helping us bring this book to life, and to Sterlings Andrea Santoro, Melanie Gold, and Hannah Reich for their work with a fine-tooth comb.

Contents

Preface

What is a perfect breath ? Far from being some noble yet unreachable goal that takes years of rigorous practice to master, a perfect breath is any breath you take for which you are completely mindful and aware. In the space of that one simple breath, great things can be accomplished. Perfect breathing is absolutely attainable, and within easy reach. In fact, your very next breath can be a perfect breath.

With this book, we hope to accomplish two things: Raise your awareness level about the power of your breath and the benefits it can bring you, and teach you conscious ways to use that awareness. Step by step, section by section, we will show you how to harness that power, to be mindful of each breath, to use that here-and-now presence to great advantage.

Each section contains valuable information that applies to significant areas of your lifeyour health, mind and emotions, performance and spiritual experienceto help you understand the scope, breadth, and influence of breathing. Throughout the book, we refer to the understanding of breath and breathing in various ways, as being aware, conscious, mindful, and intentional. While there are subtle differences in approach and technique to each one, they are nearly synonymous for the purposes of your pursuit of the perfect breath. Each is meant to convey that when you know you are breathing (i.e., when youre breath-aware), you can begin to exercise control over it; and therein lies the power.

Nearly every chapter contains simple exercises that you can begin practicing immediately, all with instant and direct benefit to the four dimensions of lifephysical, mental, emotional, and spiritualincluding your ability to heal, your physical performance, your mental and emotional well-being (including the effects of stress), and your personal quest for a deeper sense of spirituality. Weve also included a comprehensive appendix that serves as an easy-reference catalog of those exercises as they pertain to specific areas of your life.

Our purpose in presenting this information is to provide you with everything you need to begin this journey and discover for yourself this secret weapon that should no longer be kept secret. In the following pages youll find inspiration in the stories of masters from across the planet, motivation in cutting-edge science, and a world of potential in the techniques that you can start using today . You will find a connection to your life, a spark of recognition and understanding that will provide a jumping-off point to a body of knowledge that can literally transform your life as it has ours.

In Part Two, Your Perfect Breath, you will find a prescription for learning to develop breath awareness and the way to find your perfect breath. This is a vitally important section of the book as it will provide you the foundation you need to take full advantage of the information and techniques in the subsequent sections of the book. In designing this program we have assumed that between work, family and the thousand other things that fill up your days, you dont have an extra thirty or forty minutes twice a day, or even several times a week, to take on a new practice or discipline. That is why our program is designed to be integrated into your daily life with a commitment of mere minutes, allowing you to start taking full advantage of your breath to improve those four dimensions of living and your overall quality of life.

Then, once youve become breath-aware and begin to make those techniques part of your daily routine, youre ready to complete the cycle and begin employing them in all facets of your life. The subsequent sections of the book look much more deeply at how the conscious breath and breath work influence each of the four dimensions and how they can be used to specifically improve those areas.

If there is just one thing that you take away from this book, we hope that it will be a newfound awareness of your breath, of the tremendous potential that exists for each of us. With the planting of that one small seed, you may find that more and more it will become a part of everything you do, and that it is always there when you need it.

Let your next breath be a perfect breath.

Part One

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Energy of Life

For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.

Sanskrit Proverb

What is it that enables a mountain climber to reach the highest points on earth, or allows a fighter pilot to stay conscious through the pull of a jets turn eight times greater than gravity? What guides the archers arrow to the mark, or enables a ballet dancer to appear to be lighter than air? What carries a seeker to the innermost realms of the spirit, and has been recognized for centuries as one of the most potent healing agents available to mankind?

The breath.

For something so simple, automatic, and for most people, unconscious, breathing carries with it great power. It is the single most dynamic energy conversion in the human body and fuels every one of your cells. Every neuron, every synapse, every muscle feeds on the flame of your breath. Breathing is not only critical to sustaining life, but done correctly and consciously, it can be a valuable tool for getting the most out of every human endeavor, from the most demanding physical challenges to the pursuit of understanding lifes deepest spiritual mysteries.