Sekhem Breathwork: Flowing Breath, Silence, and Awareness

Remain Conscious in the Peace

After the flowing breath practice, the final breath can gather the whole experience. As breathing continues, take the final breath that has been practised. There is no need to say anything more. Remain conscious and aware as you enter the place that opens through the breath, and simply be there.

Stay with the peace. Do not become distracted. Images and other experiences may arise, but let them come without leaving the stillness. The purpose is to remain present in the experience rather than following everything that appears.

Let the Breath Move as a Flow

Natural breathing is simultaneous. When watching a baby or an animal breathe, the lower and upper parts of the body move together. In yogic breathing, the breath is directed down and then up. That method has its own purpose, while this method has another.

Yogic breathing is concerned with controlling the breath. The breath is controlled, held and exhaled, and the effects develop through extended practice. This breathing is a flow. It is not held, except for the final breath, and even that final breath is optional.

The larger breath at the end was added so that a pause does not take away the experience. A person may become distracted, stop breathing for a little while, or need to leave briefly and return. Any pause affects the chemistry and timing of the body and the group, almost as though the practice has to begin again. The final larger breath acts as a reset. It can bring a similar or deeper effect, especially when the person is already in an open and powerful space, and can return them there almost instantaneously.

The final breath is therefore a way of putting the practice together at the end. Even after breathing for an hour, a few pauses or missed breaths do not have to mean missing the experience. After returning, begin breathing again and use the larger breath at the end.

Feel Where the Body Holds

The watcher can place attention on two points, the belly and the chest, and see whether both are moving. One person may breathe mainly into the belly, while another may breathe mainly into the chest. There can be many reasons for this. One possibility is that emotions have been held in a particular area and that part of the body has become frozen.

When power has been taken away, the lower area may become frozen and the person may breathe more into the chest. When the heart has been hurt repeatedly, the heart area may close and the person may become more of a belly breather. If both areas are held, the breathing can feel almost entirely shut down.

Breathwork makes these places easier to feel. As with reflexology, where working on the foot is understood to activate corresponding areas of the body, the breath can reveal what is happening in the body directly. With the solar plexus and heart present as felt areas, it may become clear where energy is being blocked and where something is being held.

Tetany can also reveal places of holding, especially in the hands. Repeated use and chronic tension may be held there. The contraction makes the tension noticeable, and at some point the contraction releases. One way to release muscular tension is to tighten as much as possible and then release, repeating the pattern of tightening and releasing. This natural process can be seen when a dog or cat stretches, tightens and then lets go.

The breath takes the energy wherever it needs to go. It may stimulate circulation and may help relieve pain or tension that is being held in the body. The possibility of relief is not a promise of healing. The practice can be tried carefully, while remembering that it is not being presented as a medical treatment.