PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS ON TWO THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS OF BREATH

Abstract

Life begins and ends with breath. Slight bodily changes are brought about by alteration in the mechanisms of breath. In addition, mental changes are also influenced by breath. Our general condition of well-being is dependent upon the rhythmic of breathing within us. Similarly, emotions change the rhythm of breath and when we become overexcited, then we lose control over the breath. By gaining control of the breath then we mastery of mind and body. Not only that, we also establish a connection with the world around us, of which we are pan, through the breath.

Two healing initiatives based upon breath are used as illustration of breath both as a subtle organizing property and as a material manifestation. The first example is the use of breath through singing to intentionally organize the physiological abilities of another person as they recover from coma. Singing is literally the intentional use of breath to heal realized through a particular therapeutic form, which is imptovised music therapy. A fundamental property of breathing is that it has rhythm. In musical terms, rhythm has to have the property of intention otherwise it would be simply repetition or pulse. The second healing initiative is that of Qigong Yangsheng for the treatment of asthma. Breathing is used here also as an intentional activity, this time by the patient to improve his or her own breathing abilities and to heal what is essentially a breathing problem, the material manifestation of air-flow. In this latter example, the healer acts as a teacher and guide for the sufferer to influence her own breathing.