|
By Arleen Lorrance Ever since I woke up out of the “dream of separateness” and had an experience of “Oneness with All,” back in 1969, I have been studying and applying “cosmic consciousness” in all aspects of my life. Those who have been blessed with this “awakening” know, as do I, that there are many benefits to functioning as a conscious person. These range from seeing a larger picture of the dynamics of human existence, to merging with all individuals (even those who appear as strangers), to finding meaning is just about everything, to being able to readily practice The Love Principles in all circumstances, to healing the body, to finding harmony and purpose in the whole spectrum of what is known as good and evil, to being able to lift into finer frequencies of energy at will, etc. There are countless personal examples I could give over the last decades but I would like to share the latest one to exhibit a value of conscious living. In short, I just discovered that I don’t inhale enough; I don’t breathe as well as I could, should. I made this discovery thanks to the questioning and prodding of my partner Mariamne, who, luckily, is also a conscious being. Quite a while ago she noticed (a.) that I was often out of breath when climbing stairs, and (b.) that I make little sounds when I am walking about the house. I knew of these two behaviors but wasn’t really disturbed about them. The shortness of breath dated all the way back to 1968 when I awoke in the middle of the night with heart disease caused by a virus. Since then, the only remnant was shortness of breath under circumstances involving physical exertion. I learned to live with that, especially since I had a “reason” for it. As to the little sounds (huh, hum, nuh, etc.) I didn’t really know why I made them, so what? I knew that my mother had a habit of making sounds such as these, as well as sighing, and if I was bothered at all it was because I didn’t want to replicate those, didn’t want to take on my mother’s pattern. Almost six years ago I took a stress test at my cardiologist’s office and didn’t do well on it. I ran out of breath and didn’t get my heart rate up to their numbers. The doctor wanted me to have an angiogram, but when I heard it would require a hospital overnight and that one of the risks was a stroke, I declined. Later on I did have a more virtual look at my vascular/heart picture which revealed no more than 25% blockage. A friend my age said “Only 25%, you are doing quite well.” I remained unconcerned, though I was aware that I couldn’t sustain over about a dozen or so laps in the pool. The cardiologist put me on meds and a baby aspirin to reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduce the chance of strokes. He also put me on a beta blocker which I have been off since last year when I complained to him that it disenabled me from losing weight by keeping my heart rate low. At that same visit last year, he told me that since I have had no issues following the failed stress test, my diagnosis was a “false positive.” When I see him this year, I will see what other meds (especially the aspirin) I can stop taking. Mariamne was concerned about my shortness of breath; she wanted to be sure it wasn’t due to heart issues. More than raise the issue of breath, Mariamne addressed me on the subject of the little sounds. Was I aware I was making them? Why was I making them? Was I choosing to make them? You know, questions such as that. Naturally, I asked her if the sounds were bothering her, but that turned out not to be the issue. I told her they didn’t bother me but I would listen for them and see if I could determine their origin. That statement was the application of consciousness, “listen for them and make a determination about them.” It was easy to listen for them because I made them often. It was not long into the process of conscious focus that I made a rather startling discovery. The sounds represented an exhale. I was using the exhale rather than inhaling, rather than breathing, and I was certainly not breathing deeply. I would climb the stars and exhale on little sounds and have no breath when I reached the top. It was then I was forced to inhale several times. Subsequently I discovered that whenever I made the little sound it was because I was not breathing, not expanding my lungs to take in a full complement of air. What a revelation! Having made the discovery, I could now use consciousness to remedy the issue. I began by listening for every little sound and checking to see if I was actively breathing. In nearly every case, I was not. I then began using the sounds as a reminder, a trigger, to breathe. I did this practice all day, every day, for about two weeks. Then a shift occurred; I became aware of the need to breathe deeply before I was about to make the sound. Now I knew that I had traveled in my awareness to the other side of the condition. The more I breathed and practiced conscious deep breathing (in all circumstances, even while just sitting around) the less evidence there was of sound-making. Now the sound is more and more the full exhalation of the air I had consciously brought in rather than a substitute for an in-breath. I have always known to breathe deeply in emotional situations and in times of accelerated movement but I really didn’t know that I had substituted unaspirated sounds for breathing in many ordinary moments. I advocate having a partner who calls such things to your attention, and, that you listen and hear what is being said to you! Mostly, I advocate listening to your body, observing your habitual personality (character) expressions, watching your involuntary reactions to life, and letting your inner voice of wisdom tell you what you need and what is wanted of you. The great usefulness of being awakened and functioning consciously is that patterns that have existed for years can be changed in less than a week! That is truly amazing to me and is fully in alignment with my motto for living: when I see it, I be it.
|