Dennis Lewis: Breathing Space into Space
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tami Simon speaks with Dennis Lewis, an author, teacher, and practitioner of natural breathing, qigong, and meditation. After leaving the corporate world, Dennis studied a number of healing arts traditions, including Taosim, Advaita, and the Gurdjieff work. He is author of the books The Tao of Natural Breathing and Free Your Breath, Free Your Life, and with Sounds True he has produced the audio program Natural Breathing: Teachings and Exercises for Health and Self-Transformation. In this episode, Tami speaks with Dennis about the relationship between our emotions and our breathing, how we can let go into the unknown as we exhale, breathing as a metaphor for living, and what it might mean to “breathe space into space.” (56 minutes)
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I have studied and practiced other “breathing” teachings especially in the hope that it would help with deep anxiety I have experienced the past few years. I find that Dennis’ work resonates with me at a deeper level with the inclusion of “Presence”, the attentiveness to the exhale and allowing, in the inhale, to be “breathed.” All important details in my opinion. I look forward to exploring Dennis’ work more deeply
Comment by Shelly — November 18, 2011 @ 8:51 pm
Wonderful….
Comment by Sujith — November 19, 2011 @ 10:14 am
Excelent, Thank you Tami for bringing Dennis Lewis to the Podcast on the Edge….so much to learn….B
Comment by Bàrbara — November 20, 2011 @ 6:26 pm
I am used to following my breath in meditation – but there were some comments here I found useful. Got a fresh take on following the movement of my diaphram – watching it moving down with the in breath. I realise our lungs are kind of like bellows driven by our diaphram – so sometimes it seems the inhalation is more driven by exhalation rather than the other way around – like when you push that last bit of breath out and the lungs just fill by themselves and yet the exhalation is restful and a letting go. It’s a bit of a paradox but a fun thing to play with. You hear mixed messages about the reason for meditating – such as not having a “gaining” idea. I like that the Taoist philosophy is never afraid of looking for a benefit out of an exercise – more of a physical (health) focus than spiritual – but of course one follows the other. I am very interested to try Chi Nei Tsang. I have so much tightness in the diaphram which pops up as pain in the head behind the eyes. I have found that pain often manifests in a different place to the cause – and also it moves around – heart – neck – head. If I focus too much on the pain in the head it aggravates it – but if I can relax the belly it relieves it. Many years of wrong thinking, wrong posture cannot be just reversed in a day. Thanks Dennis for the insights. Will follow your teaching now with interest. Tami as usual was smooth and just knows how to get the best out of people – a real gift – asking all the right questions at the right time. Kind wishes to both of you
Comment by Justin — November 22, 2011 @ 2:55 am
As a massage therapist I am always searching for ways to teach people to breath…I’ll just send them to you. Awesome.
Comment by Barb — November 22, 2011 @ 4:55 pm
Thank you Tami and Dennis, awesome interview, very informative.
Comment by evelyn — May 7, 2012 @ 1:21 pm