THE BREATH - THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING PRESENT

• Main Author: Ileana L. Vitalia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editura Universitatii din Pitesti 2019-12-01
• Series: Current Trends in Natural Sciences
• Subjects: breathing; emotions; meditation.
• Online Access: https://natsci.upit.ro/media/1849/27vitalia.pdf

Respiration is one of the most important biological function. From the first moments of our life, this vital and mysterious process becomes strongly connected to our psysical and psychological health. We are being breathed. Our lives depend on it, even if we are not constantly aware of the significance of the breath. Urban life, sedentary and in-door activities, the constant avoidance of nature activities have been shown to influence the human capacity of breathing correctly and healthy. Other factors associated with respiratory difficulties could be psychological stress, anxiety, depression, emotional disorders. Detrimental effects of these factors have been counteracted by different forms of meditation, relaxation, and breathing techniques. Becouse our breathing happens in present, here and now, it can serve as the first anchor for our attention, giving us the opportunity to cultivate present moment awareness. Different meditative traditions consider that the breath has within it all the elements for cultivating our humanity, especially the capacity for wisdom and for compassion. In this study we have focussed on the benefits of breathing meditation tecniques on emotional health. We supposed that using a brief and simple breathing exercise would allow the group members to improve their present emotional experience.