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THE BALANCING BREATH

An excerpt from the book Healing With Love
by Leonard Laskow, M.D., Copyright (c) 1992, 2008

While doing research at a university biofeedback laboratory on the relationship of breath to brain wave activity, I discovered a breathing technique that I found to be of great value in healing work. I refer to this as the balancing breath. Its value to us is that it allows us to rapidly expand and elevate consciousness by synchronizing the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Balancing of the brain hemispheres brings the mind into a state of resonant coherence.

As part of my early research, I explored an ancient yogic technique for balancing the brain hemispheres. The technique, called alternate nostril breathing, involves alternately compressing and releasing the nostrils with the fingers while breathing, thus first inhaling on one side, then exhaling on the other.

I did this exercise while being monitored by an electroencephalograph (EEG), which measured activity in the right and left hemispheres of my brain. I noticed that the use of my hand to perform the balancing breath technique, as prescribed by the yogis, created an unbalanced hemispheric pattern. But then, when I kept my hands relaxed in my lap and simply imagined air moving in one nostril, then out the other, and so on, an interesting thing occurred. The EEG showed that the right and left hemispheres of my brain came into synchrony, producing what is referred to as hemispheric coherence. My brain wave activity displayed a synchronous alpha brain wave pattern (about 7 to 8 cycles per second) for both hemispheres (see fig. 6).

FIGURE 6 Left and Right Brain Amplitude Density

This state of resonance, brought about through the balancing breath, enhances performance on many levels, and is especially valuable for healing work. Initially, however, it isn't easy to stay in this state of balanced hemispheric coherence for long periods of time. Balancing breath is most effective when practiced just before healing yourself and others, or as preparation for meditation.

There are several ways breathing brings us into balance. Rhythmic, even breathing can bring about autonomic nervous system balance because inspiration arouses sympathetic nervous system activity, while expiration elicits parasympathetic activity. Breathing in through one nostril and out through the other adds another level of balance.

When we achieve a balance between the two hemispheres of the brain, it is known in the East as the balance of yin and yang. How does your body accomplish such a balance?

In your natural automatic breathing pattern, the air flow through one nostril predominates for about ninety minutes; then a switch occurs and air flow is greater through the other nostril for about ninety minutes.

You can determine which nostril you are primarily breathing through by wetting the palm of your hand and breathing into it to determine which side is cooler. Or you can compress each nostril while breathing in to determine which is easier to breathe through.

The switch in nostril dominance every ninety minutes is mediated by the hypothalamus, which essentially controls the autonomic nervous system. Blood vessels that supply the mucous membrane of the nasal passages are under the control of sympathetic and parasympathetic portions of the autonomic nervous system. Through alternate sympathetic constriction and parasympathetic dilation of these small blood vessels, the nasal passages either allow more air flow or become congested.

Nasal dominance can have a significant effect on our thinking, as well as on our moods and our state of consciousness.

When we breathe in through the left nostril, the right brain hemisphere is stimulated. Conversely, when we breathe in through the right nostril, the left brain hemisphere is stimulated. D. A. Werntz, a researcher conducting a study at the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, demonstrated that breathing through one nostril generated EEG activity in the opposite brain hemisphere.'

The right and left hemispheres of the brain have different functions. Characteristically, the left hemisphere is associated with verbal, linear, rational activities, while the right hemisphere is generally associated with spatial, nonlinear, intuitive activities. Werntz showed that when nostril dominance was forced to a particular side of the brain, the task performance associated with that side was enhanced. Right nostril breathing, for instance, improved the verbal skills associated with the left hemisphere, while left nostril breathing improved the intuitive or spatial skills associated with the right hemisphere.

Moods and emotions often thought of as negative or contractive, such as anger, depression, or fear, seem to focus in the right hemisphere of the brain. More positive or expansive emotions, such as joy and gratitude, focus in the left brain.

You can change dominance, regardless of which side is dominant at the moment, by directing or imagining breath coming in through the opposite nostril. If, for instance, you want to stimulate more intuitive activity, you can start breathing in through your left nostril several times by compressing the right nostril, or by simply imagining your breath coming through your left nostril.

David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa, a colleague of Werntz's, states that appetite and digestion are greater during right nostril/left brain dominance. He also points out that left nostril emphasis is more beneficial for receiving new ideas, while right nostril emphasis facilitates speaking abilities.'

2. D. A. Werntz, R. G. Bickford, D. S. Shannahoff-Khalsa, "Selective Hemispheric Stimulation by Unilateral Forced Nasal Breathing," Human Neurobiology 6: 165-171.

3. D. S. Shannahoff-Khalsa, Energy Medicine Around the World, T. M. Srinwasan, ed. (Phoenix, AZ: Gabriel Press, 1988), pp. 89-110.

Nostril dominance affects our autonomic nervous system so that not only one side of the brain but one side of the entire body will have greater sympathetic activity at any given time.

Studies with volunteers have shown that when blood is drawn from each arm at regular intervals, the level of norepinephrine produced by the sympathetic nervous system is always significantly higher on the side correlating with nostril dominance. This demonstrates that the body, as well as the brain, switches dominance at regular intervals.

By breathing through both nostrils simultaneously after the balancing breath, you can further enhance balance between the two hemispheres of the brain and the functions associated with them. Breathing through both nostrils at the same time may also help generate a natural crossover of dominance. When a ninety-minute cycle ends, it takes about ten minutes for nostril dominance to change naturally from one side to the other. This crossover period correlates with peak task performance of the skills associated with both hemispheres and with balanced nostril dominance. By breathing through both nostrils simultaneously, you can generate this crossover at will.

Although normally we achieve a balance between the two hemispheres over a period of time, it is useful to achieve this balanced state in the moment. The balancing breath can be used before and during meditation, healing, or counseling to shift consciousness into the transpersonal dimension.

The following exercise allows you to bring both hemispheres into balance.

EXERCISE: THE BALANCING BREATH

1. Assume a comfortable, relaxed position.

2. Gently close your eyes.

3. Exhale, allowing your lungs to empty and relax.

4. As you breathe in, imagine your breath coming in through your left nostril, then up to the center of your forehead.

5. As you exhale, imagine your breath coming out your right nostril.

6. Next, inhale through your right nostril, up to the center of your forehead. Exhale through your left nostril.

7. Breathe in the way described for seven cycles. (Each inhalation followed by an exhalation is one complete cycle.)

8. On your eighth cycle, breathe in through both nostrils simultaneously. Hold that breath for a moment and focus your attention on the center of your forehead.

9. Release your breath as if you were exhaling it through your forehead. This opens up your sixth chakra, or energy center, the center of the intuitive functions of your mind.

As you do this exercise, try to involve as many senses as you can. For example, as you breathe in, notice that the air flowing through your nostrils feels cool. Notice how it feels warmed in your nostrils as you exhale. As you breathe, air moves the tiny hairs that line your nasal passages. Allow yourself to sense these movements.

You might also imagine that you are breathing in light or color, or even a fragrance, such as that of a rose. If you want to balance or increase the energy of a certain chakra, you might now refer to the chakra chart in chapter 3 and imagine yourself breathing in the color that corresponds with that particular chakra. Or you can breathe in the seven chakra colors during the seven cycles, which helps to balance your entire subtle energy system.

What's exciting about the balancing breath is that it enables you to make one brain hemisphere more dominant, or to bring both hemispheres and your autonomic nervous system into balance as you choose. Through your breathing, you can consciously influence your body, your feelings and thoughts, and your state of consciousness. The balancing breath links you with your spirit, and it helps to bring healing into the realm of conscious choice.

THE BALANCING BREATH AND TRANSPERSONAL STATES

When both hemispheres are brought into balance, as happens with the balancing breath, consciousness is shifted into the transpersonal dimension. This balanced and synchronous state may be accompanied by a release of energy, sometimes seen as light. The release of energy may be sensed as a blue light; in Eastern traditions, this light is sometimes referred to as the Blue Pearl. As I explored the balancing breath, I realized that when I saw the Blue Pearl, there had been a subtle energetic fusion of my right and left hemispheres. Along with the light I experienced a sense of inner peace and unity. My consciousness at that moment seemed to expand to an area just above my head, which is often referred to as the transpersonal space. In this inclusive state of consciousness, it became obvious to me that it takes energy to maintain the illusion of separation, just as it takes energy to maintain a separation of charge across cell membranes or in a battery. Therefore, when whatever is held to be separate is unified, energy is released. This is the energy of synergy, the energy of the unified whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. To the extent that we open ourselves to the transpersonal realms of consciousness through such activities as meditation and conscious breathing the energy we use to maintain the illusion of separateness is no longer needed, and is released as light.

In ordinary states of consciousness, where one brain hemisphere or the other is dominant, the illusion of separation is maintained. This illusion frequently causes us to feel alienated from our center or source; we experience this as a fear of loss or abandonment and as a sense of being out of touch with our true nature. We are not, at that time, in resonance with our own bodies, our own minds, or our own selves, nor are we in a resonant relationship with the universe. Conversely, in those moments when we experience oneness and come into alignment with our source, or true nature, we no longer feel alone or abandoned. We are coming home, in resonance with our source.

If we remain misaligned or separated from our source, we eventually become ill, which reminds us to come back into resonant unity. The essence of healing, then, is to become one with the source of our being.

I like the way the Gospel of Thomas addresses the illusion of separation and duality and the unity of matter and spirit:

SPECULATIONS ON ENERGY, BREATH, AND HEALING

In the study of energetic systems, we find that when a wave of a particular frequency and amplitude meets a wave coming from the opposite direction of the same frequency and amplitude, a standing wave occurs at the point where they meet and resonate. The pattern created by the two waves at this juncture then becomes self-organizing; it becomes a template that tends to seek like forms and to perpetuate itself.

To use an analogy: in a pipe organ, the length and size of the pipe determines the form of the standing wave; when air is pumped through the pipe it sets up a standing wave (which we experience as sound) characteristic of that form. When frequencies merge to create resonant standing waves, they generate the formation of geometric energy patterns or templates that are capable of storing and transmitting information to other forms that resonate with them. This is how the interactions of two or more energy fields create form.

When the right and left hemispheres of the brain come into synchrony, they energetically fuse to create a standing wave form that resonates with the transpersonal space. This shifts our perceptions from the body-mind realm to the spiritual realm.

Within the energetic model of holoenergetic healing, beliefs, thoughts, and feelings have energetic signatures; that is, a particular individual's feeling of unworthiness would have a specific, recognizable form that is as unique to that person as his or her hand-written signature. When we believe or feel something, that belief or feeling creates a specific energetic form. That form exists within the energy fields of our own body-mind, but it can also extend outward, like a radar system seeking and/or creating matching forms with which to resonate in the external world.

The energetic templates or holoforms of our thoughts and feelings seek out circumstances (other people, experiences, physical forms, etc.) that are supportive of those templates. In other words, the energetic forms of our own beliefs, thoughts, and feelings tend to find other people or situations that confirm, validate, prove, or justify them. If our energy configures as a victim form we'll tend to gravitate toward circumstances that make it appear that the world is our victimizer. And if our energy takes a more active and self-actualizing form we'll tend to gravitate toward circumstances that make it appear that the world is filled with opportunity and resources. The resonance between the external world and the forms established within our own energy fields creates what we perceive as our individual reality.

In holoenergetic healing, we use breathing to focus and amplify desire, will, intention, and imagination (mental imagery). Controlled breathing reinforces the chosen conditions by creating a standing wave resonance (organizing energy field) within us that attracts to itself, from the world around us, forms like itself. For example, we might have a fear of intimacy that we want to heal because we have met someone with whom we would like to share a long-term relationship. We begin with the desire to change the energy pattern that expresses that fear. Then we discover the source and the positive intent behind the fear. We create the mental image of a new form in which we see ourselves as freely receiving and giving love. However, just having created that new form is not enough; we then commit our will to maintain the form in which we are ready to freely receive and give love. Then we employ intention to establish a plan for moving forward with this new form, expressing it and maintaining it as an organizing energy field to attract like forms from the world around us.

At each step, from desire through forming a mental image and on through developing a plan to assertively move that new form out into the world with us, we use the breathing exercises described in this chapter to focus and amplify our endeavor. This process, amplified by the appropriate conscious breathing methods, sparks the energy that moves us toward change, both inner and outer toward our desired reality.

Also, by consciously using breathing we can balance the hemispheres of our brains and create a sense of unity within ourselves: a sense of balance between the polarities of the inspirational breath of life and the expirational breath of death; of the active and the passive; of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic; of the masculine and the feminine. All these polarities can be brought into balance through a rhythmic pattern of breathing.

Thus, balancing the hemispheres of our brains with the balancing breath coheres a state of consciousness that profoundly facilitates the healing process.

EXERCISE: STRUCTURED WINE OR WATER

We can demonstrate the transference of loving energy in a practical way by restructuring wine. This simple exercise in energy transference forms the basis for distant healing, telepathic communication, and blessing food and wine. This exercise can be performed with water by those who prefer to abstain from alcohol.

1. Open a bottle of wine or mineral water and pour it into two glasses, labeling them A and B. Remove B from the area.

2. Set glass A down in front of you. Place your hands around the glass without touching it or touching your hands together.

3. Recall a time when you felt most loved or loving. Feel that sense of love in the center of your chest. Breathe in and out through your chest as you allow the feeling of love to expand.

4. If you are using wine, take a moment to become aware of the source grapes once living on vines. Allow yourself to feel a sense of gratitude toward this fruit that, instead of dying on the vine, sacrificed itself for your nourishment and enjoyment. Allow yourself to imagine the possibility that these grapes have a consciousness, and let your love and gratitude acknowledge their sacred gift of life energy. Allow yourself to sense these feelings of love and gratitude. If you are using water, allow yourself to feel gratitude and love for the gift of life that water gives us.

Breathing Cycle

1. Focus your attention on the wine or water and breathe its essence in through the center of your chest. If you close your eyes as you breathe in, it will be easier to do this. Hold the image or sense of the wine or water in the center of your chest. Feel your love and gratitude merging with the essence of the wine.
2. Now, using intention, transfer your loving energy by releasing your breath as if from the center of your chest into the wine or water in the glass.
3. Once again, breathe the essence of the wine or water into the center of your chest. As you inhale, imagine your breath moving up into your shoulders. As you exhale, imagine your breath moving down your arms, through your hands, into the wine or water, infusing it with your love and gratitude.
4. Repeat the breathing cycle three times.
5. Wait at least ten minutes. Then compare the aroma and taste of the wine or water in each glass. Note any differences. Sometimes tiny bubbles form in the structured wine or water. Most people say the quality of the structured wine or water is enhanced. As a matter of individual taste, some prefer the nonstructured wine or water.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of energy transference at a distance, repeat this exercise but omit the step using your hands. The wine or water can be placed across the room or even in another room. Transfer your energy from your heart center to the wine or water as described.
The energy field of the structured wine or water will persist for days, even months, after the wine or water has been "blessed." You can also bless food this way. Not only does the act of blessing energize you directly, but the food and drink now become additional sources of loving energy. Your own love is fed back to you through whatever you structure in this way.5
With overviews of the holoenergetic healing process and breath in mind, let us now move forward to examine each of the Four R's in detail. In the next two chapters, we'll be exploring Recognition, the first R. It consists of two chapters because there are two phases to Recognition. Phase One involves rational knowing; it uses verbal processes to begin to discover and explore the forms of the present energy you desire to change. Phase Two is intuitive; in this phase, you'll be using intuitive methods to access information at an energetic level.

S. In chapter 6, I will explore biomechanical testing with L-rods to measure energy fields. You may want to save these samples to later test the energetic levels of the wine or water. You will find instructions for how to evaluate structured wine or water in the same chapter.