Penny Mckay

Archive for the ‘Feature Article’ Category

Take a deep breath in now and connect with the power that is the life giving force of the ”in breath”

Can you feel it? 

Can you sense the soft movement of prana as it is called to caress the inside of your nostrils? 

How aware are you of its gently gliding, sliding journey past the back of your throat?

Are you able to notice this wonderful, whispering life force as it arrives deep in the heart of your lungs?

As you draw this breath in, ask yourself, is this an expansive breath? Can you get a sense of your body opening and expanding to welcome this life giving force. Or is there restriction? Do you have difficulty in allowing the “in breath” so subsequently it is shallow and inhibited? Could it be that by restricting your breathing you are restricting your potential to connect with life and for life to connect with you? A shortlived breath that perhaps leads to a shortlived life.

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Our breath is something we are rarely consciously engaged with. The continuous motion of breathing out followed by breathing in that just seems to happen, leaves very little need for our conscious involvement and it would be relatively easy to miss “the pause” that is pure potentiality, in amongst all this breathing. But we could choose to bring our awareness to this incredible friend that emerges from within us so instinctively and so naturally and seek to discover the peace that surely resides in the space that is “the pause”.

Breathe in, breathe out, pause…. breathe in, breathe out, pause…. breathe in, breathe out, pause….

The ”pause” emerges from the release (death) of the out breath.

Within it you wait effortlessly, gently and softly until….

The beginning(birth) of the in breath emerges from the “pause”.

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Breathe in; breathe out; breathe in; breathe out; breathe in; breathe out……. 

Just take a moment, here, to check in with your breath and to ask yourself two things in particular. 

How am I breathing?

How do I feel? 

If you feel tense your breathing can become tight and restricted. If you are relaxed, your breathing will flow comfortably and easily. There is a direct correlation between how you feel and the response of your breathing. How your breathing is and how you feel.

Your breath and your breathing is the reflection of your ability to access the life giving force that is prana, and perhaps by paying just a little more attention to it you could harness an invaluable tool to continual wellness.

Breathing is not a one muscle experience, it involves a group of muscles that work in unison, if we can let them. Breathing also, does not just happen in the lungs, it is a front, back and sides experience and ultimately a whole body experience.

The primary muscles involved in breathing are the diaphragm, the abdominals, intercostals(between the ribs), the trapezius, the scalenes and the sternocliedomastoid (the neck muscles).

Just try it, put your hands on your ribcage and breathe. Now put your hands on your tummy and breathe. Now put your hands on your lower back and breathe. Notice and feel where the movement of your breath goes.

The breath signifies the continual cycle of life and death that we are intrinsically connected to and are a part of. Our very existence depends upon it whatever shape or form that existence may take. Without our breath we do not exist.

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So yet again the medical establishment, always swift in making decisions, have had the results of new research that concludes that aspirin actually does more harm than good “in healthy individuals”. (I always like that particular label as they steer well clear of the implication of “unhealthy, sick or ill individuals”). I would question though, that if you are healthy you are unlikely to take it anyway but it’s ok to take it if you’re already ill! I’m pretty sure that if I was a “sick” individual I wouldn’t be that impressed with the prospect of further symptoms (to add to whatever symptoms I had to manage already) particularly if it comes in the form of internal bleeding as a result of taking aspirin. Aparently aspirin is helpful immediately after having a heart attack (in an unhealthy individual) but I tend to think that if you are at the stage of having a heart attack its likely you gave up listening to your body long before you gave up looking after it and an aspirin at this point would appear like a life saver regardless of the potential side effects!

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Water is all about a natural flow. Rivers flow towards the sea, the tides ebb and flow and we too are part of nature’s great flow. As human beings, sustaining the flow of our health and the well being of the physical body depends on an adequate supply of water and nutrients.

Water is vital. 

Water is vital when you begin to consider all the processes in the body that require fluid. Some are more obvious than others. Our body as a whole consists of 50-75% water. On a daily basis we loose moisture through the breath in expiration, through the skin when we sweat and through the urine when we go to the toilet. Other moisture vital areas to mention include our mouths with saliva, our eyes with tears and mucus producing sites such as the lungs and vagina. These areas of the body we know and are able to relate to very readily but there are many other hidden internal processes that also require us to be hydrated for example the metabolism of fat, the regulation of body temperature and the lubrication of the discs in between the vertebrae in the spine.

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For many of us our patterns of movement on a daily basis are habitual and routine.

We don’t actually think about what it is we are doing we just get on with doing it.

Whether on a small scale or a larger scale we literally find ourselves in a place of unconsciously residing in our comfort zone, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  

In small ways perhaps we have a well established routine from day to day. We sleep on the same side of the bed so the day begins with the familiar emergence from that side of the bed. We can map our journey predictably to the bathroom, then getting dressed and then sorting breakfast. The kettle, cups, tea and milk are all in the usual place and require minimal conscious thought to pull together as we operate on automatic out in to the rest of our day. The car, with the steering wheel always on the same side and pedals in the same position just reinforces the way we climb in and climb out of the car, typically using the same muscles in the same movement, time after time.

So it is little wander that at some point our bodies start to show us where we have become stuck in our routine by reflecting back to us our own stiffness, our own loss of mobility, our inflexibility and ultimately our pain. It starts with a twinge here and a tweak there, just a little call for and to your awareness. Read the rest of this entry »

In his teachings “A Spiritual Solution to Every problem”  Wayne Dyer cites a story of a flight he was on. It was a long flight and he got chatting to the man sat next to him. Through the course of the flight he discovered that his fellow traveller was a very successful businessman with plenty of assets and property but that he was currently going through a very difficult divorce which was really taking its toll on his health, physically and mentally and on his quality of life in general. At the end of his lament about how tired he was with all of the negotiations about who was getting what, he turned to Wayne  Dyer and asked what he thought he should do.  Should he choose the business or the house, this investment or that percentage?

 Wayne  took about a second to think about it and said “Choose peace.”

The mans reaction was to be somewhat taken a back. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, lets say in this hand I have a magic wand and with it you can have all of your assets, investments, property, whatever you want. And in this hand you can have peace. What would you choose? Choose peace.”

In the current climate it is easy to get pulled in to a place of fear with regards to our personal financial situation. We have become so reliant on money for so many things but in particular we believe that money can provide our ultimate happpiness. We see it as the answer to all of our problems and that all our issues will just fall away if we have more money. Perhaps our perception is that there would be no more worry if there was just more money. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the American College of Sports Medicine current guidelines for exercise for healthy adults under aged 65 are as follows:-

Moderate intense cardio 10 – 30 minutes a day 5 times a week or

rigorous intense cardio 10 – 20 minutes a day 3 times a week

to help maintain health and prevent chronic disease.

We all know we “should” be doing some form of exercise. On some level we understand that it is good for us but do we really understand why it is good for us?
For many just the word “exercise” is a little like the word “God” with all sorts of images being conjured up. Most of these usually relate to horrible experiences of enforced cross country runs in the depths of Winter or equally horrible and very public humiliation at the local gym. Ask most of us about aerobic exercise and you can see the visions of lycra literally jumping in your head. Other symptoms usually associated with exercise may be pain, sweating, breathlessness and an inability to move for at least forty eight hours after. Not exactly energising or effective.

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