As I watched their extraordinary passage to health, I recognized myself on the other end of that health spectrum; I had healthy eating habits, I liked my veggies, and I enjoyed exercising, and yet I suffer from malnutrition. My body lacks vital nutrients from the leafy greens. Recently, I have taken up juicing, drinking raw milk, and making kefir, and my body feels fabulous. My eye sight is improving, skin abrasions and joint pains are diminishing, and over all, life feels pretty good.

For two different reasons, the three of us needed a solution and the answer was the same: more nutrient rich food. It heals, and yet the more I probed I was shocked that this was not the entire story. I am curious: do you know what you are eating? Not all foods are equal. Most would think I am referring to organic versus non-organic – was your food grown using pesticides? In fact, I am referring to genetically modified organisms (GMO). Have biotech companies injected foreign DNA in to the plants DNA forcing the plant to make proteins that make it resistant to herbicides or manipulating it to make pesticides?

Are you and your family eating organic veggies? If you aren’t, did you know pesticide use has doubled over the last decade and herbicide use is up 237% over the past two years, according to Charles Benbrook, using USDA statistics? Or that 70% of processed foods in your local Coop have genetically modified ingredients, according to www.responsibletechnology.org, Jeffrey Smith’s website? Did you know that reputable scientists have found in numerous studies that in one generation mice consuming GMO foods are smaller and sicker, and in three generations, they are sterile? Or that former Monsanto lawyer, Mike Taylor, originally hired by the Bush administration and again by Obama’s, now oversees FDA policy? Did you know the FDA has determined ‘they are not aware of any information showing foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful way’? It is now illegal to label GMO foods.

No matter what part of the health spectrum we reside, fruits and veggies heal. Yes, most fruits and vegetables are GMO free. Soybeans, corn, canola and cotton are almost all GMO crops. While I am not interested in juicing pesticide rich foods, especially not GMO’s – we should be free to chose. But we can not choose what we don’t know. Let your dollars speak; tell your local grocery store, your favorite restaurants (most use GMO oils) that you want to eat GMO free. Tell your Representatives, GMO food’s need to be labeled. Europe is GMO free, McDonalds in Europe is GMO free, America can be GMO free, too. Learn more about GMO’s from www.responsibletechnology.org. Here’s to healthy choices for everyone

During anxiety or danger; the trigger is either an experience of panic/overwhelm or an anxious thought. The breath reacts automatically by becoming rapid, short and shallow. This short breath dominates the upper respiratory system, switching on the sympathetic nervous system, by tapping into the receptor sites at the top of the lungs. This is the body’s natural defense, flight/fight mechanism – supporting us to react quickly to danger.

The challenge in the West is that we have created lifestyles that generate a great deal of stress. Stress also flips on this natural defense mechanism. The body does not know the difference, and responds the same. Chronic stress leads to dis-ease and often burned-out adrenal glands.

We also carry the counterpart to the sympathetic in the parasympathetic nervous system. Its’ receptor sites reside at the base of the diaphragm. When we breathe deeply into the diaphragm, we flip the switch of the parasympathetic nervous system inducing a peaceful, calm state.

Simultaneously, breathing diaphragmatically supplies the entire body with necessary oxygen to feed the body. Oxygen is the body’s primary fuel; every part of the body requires oxygen to function optimally. The heart, the lower back, the digestive track, the reproductive organs are rejuvenated by the internal massage of the diaphragm and breath. Every part of our body is sustained by the oxygen rich blood. Oxygen is the vehicle for the life force it carries. We thrive mentally, emotionally and spiritually when we breathe deeply and fully.

The key, is to consciously turn on the parasympathetic nervous system.  

Before we can change a pattern we must become aware of it. Noticing your breath pattern is the first step. When you notice you are breathing short and shallow, put your hand on your lower abdomen (four fingers below your belly button) and begin to breathe here, feel your lower belly extend gentle. Breathe gently and allow your exhale to be like a silent sigh.

Initially, it can be challenging to work with your breath pattern, especially by yourself, because you are bumping up against locked-in emotions and traumas. By working with a diaphragmatic, connected breathwork system, you will address both the physical breath pattern as well as the habituated breath patterns from your subconscious. A series of three breath sessions begins to clear the habituated patterns from the body memory.

Because breathing and thinking are two sides of the same coin, as we work with one, the other is affected. The body has an easier time transforming the breath pattern while habituated thinking often takes more diligence to shift – neither can be ignored. Intensive breathwork clears the subconscious like taking the garbage out the back door. However, what do we keep letting in the front door, the conscious mind? What do we repeat to ourselves on a daily basis?

There are many practices for addressing our thinking: Byron Katie’s, The Work, helps to unwind habituated thoughts, by asking four simple questions; Tibetan Dzogchen Buddhism deeply addresses the Nature of Mind. Any thought we think more than once is a meditation, so what are we meditating upon? Is it a meditation that supports our happiness? Or suffering?

The good news is that when you clear from the subconscious, the feeling is one of jubilation; it is extraordinary to release the weight of past traumas. Most of us are surprised by the body’s ability to hold a memory that we have come to terms with. I believe these body memories are held as reminders to keep us safe. When we have learned and evolved beyond them, they simply hold us back from living our full potential. The breath locked them in, and so the breath unlocks them. As we do the internal Feng Shui and clear them, we are reinvigorated by the lightness of being.

Reside my friends in the present, free from believing habituated thoughts – the, ‘I am right!’ attitude – and, be free from the weight of past thinking. Enjoy each moment with a full, deep breath.

The ancients paid more attention to the breath. In fact the root of our word breath in Latin is respire (re) – return, (spiritus) – the spirit: each breath is the return of spirit. Ancient yogis of India called breath prana, which means the subtle life force of the Universe. The Confucius Masters warned us not to confuse the outer breath of oxygen with the inner breath, chi or energy.

As the key to our biology, a deep, full breath provides us with incredible amounts of energy, vitality and clarity; a shallow breath pattern promotes anxiety and stress, accelerates the aging process and becomes the greatest contributor for dis-ease. Every one of the body’s systems from detoxification, to burning fat to moving the lymph requires oxygen. A consistent, shallow breath means the body doesn’t have enough fuel to eliminate toxins and fats so it stores them. When this becomes a chronic pattern, organs shut down and dis-ease sets in.

Most of us are not taught to breathe fully; when we are shown how to use the complete respiratory system we bring health back to parts of our body that had become stagnant from years of shallow breathing. Deep breathing uses the diaphragm and the intercostals muscles (the muscles between the ribs); the diaphragm stimulates a gentle massage of the abdominal organs, the intercostals muscles massage the lungs and heart. Without this vital internal massage, common ailments arise such as a sluggish digestive track/ colon, lower back tension, stagnation in the reproductive organs, heart ailments and more. The abdominal region in eastern medicine is also known as our true source of power, creativity and ability to trust in all of life. By breathing diaphragmatically we innately connect with being grounded, creative and peaceful.

Your breath tells the story of how you live. Check now to see where your breath starts. Put four fingers below your belly button, and a hand on your heart, can you feel any movement? The inhalation is about taking in vital energy, are you saying ‘yes’ to life? If so, you can feel full movement in those four fingers. Does the breath expand up to your chest? Or are your shoulder muscles chronically tight? Where the breath doesn’t go, these areas become stressed; when the breath is deep and full, it revitalizes the whole body with it’s deep internal massage.

The exhalation tells how well we let go of what we no longer need; can we release what we don’t like or do we push it away? Can we relax into the flow of life? How do we handle fear, or pain when it arises? Are we living vitally and aligned with a sense of purpose?

Breath is life; Andrew Weil, a doctor known for bridging eastern and western medicine says this, “Whenever there is any disharmony in the body, physical, dis-ease, illness: the first place you should look is to see how you’re breathing. Breathing is the master key to self-healing. It is the doorway into every system of the body, determines whether we’re stuck in flight or fight, or are able to rest and balance ourselves.” Breathe deeply and be healthy, enjoy your breath.