Penman - The Art of Breathing: How to Become at Peace with Yourself and the World

Copyright 2022, 2018 by Danny Penman, PhD

Foreword copyright 2022, 2018 by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Afterword copyright 2022 by Mark Williams

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2018 by Conari Press, ISBN: 978-1-57324-735-1. First published in Great Britain by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 2016

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Book design by Steve Wells

Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

www.redwheelweiser.com

ISBN: 978-1-64297-042-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017958237

Printed in Canada

MAR

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Dedicated to my wife Bella
and our two boisterous kids
Sasha and Luka.

Download meditations from www.franticworld.com/breathing

Among all the dimensions of life we take for granted or ignore, and there are many, breathing is among the closest to us and the most fundamental. We are always only one breath away from not being able to keep the mystery of this universe comprising trillions of human cells that we somehow think of as me alive. The entire constellation miraculously and unceasingly takes care of itself through breathing, over seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and decades. What a gift. What an opportunityif only we could wake up to it. And that is what mindfulness, or what we might call openhearted wakefulness is all about... pure awareness, boundless, centerless, and already yours. Perhaps our awareness is the most unique characteristic of our humanitythe final common pathway of what makes us who we are and might be, both as a species and as individuals.

When we think of the breath at all, we routinely think of it as my breath. We say things like I am breathing, but frankly, if it were up to us to keep the breathing going, we would have died a long time ago, especially in this age of perpetual self-distraction. A text, an e-mail, a thought: DEAD. So whoever we think we are when we deploy those singular personal pronouns I, me, or mine, we are not allowed anywhere near ultimate control of the brain stem, the phrenic nerve, and the diaphragm's ongoing collaboration to keep this universe we call me alive. We are simply not reliable enough for the job. And that's a good thing, because it frees us up for other kinds of adventures, especially taking full advantage of the life that is ours to live while the breath is still mysteriously moving in and out.

All this is to say that we can intentionally befriend the breath to great advantage. And that is what Danny Penman's beautifully tactile and invitingly pleasing and uplifting gift to us is all about. We can cultivate exquisite intimacy with the breath, which in turn, cultivates intimacy with life itself, with our body, our mind, our thoughts, our emotions, our imagination, our creativity, our beauty. Ultimately, it puts us in touch with our relationality to everything, outwardly as well as inwardly, including our embeddedness in the social and the natural worlds, in a word, with who and what we are, more akin to pure awareness than anything else. After all, we are collectively known as Homo sapiens sapiens, the species that is aware and knows that it is aware.

This book is an exquisitely accessible and welcoming door into that entire universe. Enter, enter, enter and ultimately befriend yourself in your fullness as part of a much larger whole.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

author of Full Catastrophe Living,
Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School and founder of its Center for
Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society

The official estimate is in the 37 trillion range at the moment, and that is not counting the approximately equal number of bacteria (known collectively as the microbiome) living in our digestive tract and all over the body. Apparently the number of cells in the human body is hugely larger than the estimated number of galaxies in the entire universe by about 800 billion.

Six paragliders are circling like eagles on powerful currents of rising air. Far below, a cluster of children gaze with open mouths as the giant parachutes dive and swoosh silently above their heads.

Then, suddenly, something starts to go wrong.

One of the paragliders is hit by a powerful gust of wind, turning the canopy inside out. The pilot starts spinning, spiraling like a sycamore seed toward the earth.

After an eternity, the young man smashes into the hillside. He lies face down on the ground. Broken.

But he is alive. After a moment of stunned silence, he begins screaming in agony. It will be at least thirty minutes before the paramedics arrive. And another hour to reach the hospital.

Alone, he knows that he can't afford to lose consciousness in case he never again awakens. So he begins forcing himself to breathe.

Slowly. Deeply. With a supreme effort of will, he focuses his mind away from his broken body and onto his breath. In. Out.

Inch by inch, the agony recedes. Before, finally, he reaches a state of calm tranquility.

Of pure mindfulness.

I was the young man who crashed his paraglider.

The
art of
breathing
saved
my life.

For thousands of years, people have used the art of breathing for equally profound effects on the mind and body.

Some have used it for relief from chronic pain. Many more to cope with anxiety, stress and depression. Some claim it led to spiritual enlightenment.

But I'm as spiritual as a housebrick...

... so I use it to help me appreciate the bittersweet beauty of everyday life.