Mindful breathing, smiling, laughing, humming, questioning, writing, qigong, the harmonic vibrations of real thinking and feeling and sensing, inner silence, learning to welcome the truth, exchanging perceptions and insights with others, listening, music, walks on the desert or the beach with a loved one, beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the desert or ocean, reading the great spiritual classics, tasting the food in my mouth, realizing that this moment could be my last, being present now to the whole of myself, especially the resounding emptiness.
Anyone who is interested in the process of awakening to who or what they really are.
Dear Potential Friend:
Before asking me to add you as a "friend," please explore my page. If you find some resonance with what you discover here, then I will readily welcome you as a friend.
Also, I would love to include your comments. If they are mainly commercial or marketing oriented, however, that is, if they contain a lot of information about you and what you sell, I will not approve them.
Thank you.
Dennis
There is so much music that has touched my soul. It begins back in the 1940s with the music I grew up with: big band jazz (my father played solo trumpet for Woody Herman, and also played with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and so many others). Today, in addition to big band jazz, I love to listen to Leonard Cohen, David Hykes, Joan Baez, Sarah Brightman, Mozart, and too many others to list here. More recently I have discovered the healing power of certain kinds of music: for instance, compositions by Sarah Brightman, David Hykes, Alan Roubik, Pachelbel, Bach, Elgar, Bizet, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and many more. And, most recently, I've been enjoying The Dixie Chicks, who had the courage to say what needed to be said.
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Books on Breathing, Gurdjieff, Self-Transformation, and Self Realization that I recommend
From my book, Free Your Breath, Free Your Life: How Conscious Breathing Can Relieve Stress, Increase Vitality, and Help You Live More Fully
"The way we breathe ... is often a revealing metaphor for our willingness or ability to experience what is actually going on inside ourselves and to move freely through and within our lives and ourselves. For some of us, for example, our restricted, superficial breathing is our unconscious way of suppressing our emotions, of feeling less. Opening up the restrictions in our breathing can help us open up the experiential spaces of our own minds and bodies and learn how to live in the full expanse of the present moment. It is in the spacious reality of the present moment that real exploration, healing, and wholeness can take place.
To live from more of the whole of ourselves is only possible, I believe, when we can fully exhale, when we can let go of everything that is truly unnecessary in our lives. We’re not just talking about a physical act here; we’re also talking about a psychological and spiritual one as well. Can I let go, moment-by-moment, of my narrow, illusory self-image and all the unnecessary muscular tensions and contractions that arise from it? Can I let go moment-by-moment of all the unnecessary and fictitious things, both big and small, that I get attached to and identify with, so that I can receive new, more honest and complete impressions and perceptions of myself and others? Can I live and relate from my wholeness right now instead of from my assumptions, opinions, and judgments based ..xperiences and future expectations?
This is what the process of health, healing, and self-transformation is really all about—the inner space and freedom to explore, to be, and to appreciate who or what I already am in my essence. The way we breathe, the way we participate day-by-day in the breath of life--the boundless life force that animates and connects us all--can play a vital role in this intimate exploration."
Copyright 2004 by Dennis Lewis
What People are Saying About this Book
"This is by far the most compelling and complete book on breathing I've ever read. It is 'must' reading for everyone who is interested in optimal health."--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" and "The Wisdom of Menopause".
“It is extremely difficult to write well and truly about the healing role of breathing both in our everyday life and on the way to great self-knowledge. Dennis Lewis succeeds through a rare combination of clear-headed, practical thought and spiritual sensitivity.â€â€”Jacob Needleman, author of "The American Soul".
“Dennis Lewis has a deep understanding of the central importance of breathing, in both its physical and spiritual dimensions—as the breath of life and the breath of the spirit. This book is a practical and inspiring guide to opening yourself to the larger energies of life through the medium of the breath. Highly recommended!â€â€”John Welwood, author of "Toward a Psychology of Awakening."
John Pentland, G.I. Gurdjieff, Jean Klein, Ramana Maharshi, Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, Byron Katie, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Buddha, Jesus, Rumi, Milarepa, Eckhart Tolle, Douglas Harding, Henry Miller, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ilse Middendorf, Karlfried Graf von Durkheim, The Life Force, The Unknown