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A recent intensive client
"Dear Mike,

After working to process some of what I learned there in Charlotte in my time with you, I have to first thank you from the very core of my being for providing me with insights that are infinitely more valuable than any I have ever received from medical practitioners about my struggles to breathe. These struggles have been an unwelcome part of my life for so long and I never had any clue at all as to why, and though I have always suspected that they are connected with other aspects of my life I haven't been able to figure out much about it on my own.

Mechanically, what I understand now is that chronic dysfunctional breathing has made me intolerant of carbon dioxide in my blood and has worked with my sympathetic nervous system to maintain a flight response. . .and that this has all kinds of connections with ways I have been guarding myself emotionally, which I connect too with other life patterns of constant moving, with the need for identity-preservation and the unexpressed and unresolved grief associated with that, also divorce, loneliness, and the list goes on, etc. etc. etc. These insights are perhaps the most extremely valuable outcome of my time with you, though of course the tools you have given me to cope with and change these mechanics are also of immeasurable value.

The exercises are subtle and definitely time-intensive and while I am doing them religiously now (and breathing better, I might add), I wonder what will happen when I get blasted with a move to a new country and a full-time teaching schedule. I am hoping that I will incorporate them into how I live my life before then! You will if you really want to. You have the tools now. Intention and consistency is all that you need.

While I was there with you, I don't think I understood the value at the time of vocalizing on the vibrating platform. When you asked me how I felt and I could only respond "confused," which was not, as you pointed out, an emotion, we came up with "anxious" as a better emotional descriptor. But really on reflection, I think I was irritated, frustrated (are these emotions?) and verging on angry at spending time doing something I couldn't replicate on my own later.

But I've come to think of it in more metaphorical terms now, because finding voice is important for me--maintaining a low profile, embracing invisibility has been part of the survival mode I adapted in making many moves, a carefully-learned survival technique of traveling through different cultures that allows one not to stand out and be a target. In my home culture, it allows me to look normative, not to draw too much attention to the fact that I'm like an invisible alien, so my non-normative side remains unexpressed and authenticity is blocked. Blocking means I don't breathe in that parasympathetic way, to protect myself from scrutiny or betrayal of my most vulnerable self--I go into hiding. Finding voice, then, locating that sweet spot and vocalizing in the midst of being "shaken up" is an antidote to this. Groundedness is exactly what I have never ever had in my restless life. And whatever ways help me to recognize the ways I maintain this survival mode unnecessarily will ultimately help to relieve my struggles to breathe . So while I didn't actually understand the reason you were having me do that, seeing it metaphorically gives me another powerful tool for making changes.

For some reason the LEASE exercise remains my favorite. . .I can understand it intellectually and physically and it has some spiritual resonance for me, too. And it seems like it's quick to have good effects as I find myself trying to elongate my exhale in other activities, too, kind of without thinking about it. Good, then do it daily. You may find days you DO NOT do it do not go so well. Standing meditation is good, too, though the benefits of it are more subtle to me. It takes much longer which is another reason in addition to grounding, centering and connecting the voice to the feet that I use the Vibration equipment with the particular sounds I have you make.

I am a little unclear still about what precisely I should be doing with the strapping technique. Do it per the 176 DVD until you no longer feel any extra breathing space, then wait a few days to do it again. For the rest of your life until a few years after you retire then once every 3-6 weeks.

I think of those hours with you in your office as a time of intense self-discovery and learning, and I know I will be processing this new information for some time to come.

I am still unclear about some things--for instance, while I enjoyed hanging upside down, I am less able to fit that into the bigger picture of what I have learned. Low back pain control and elimination. The diaphragm connects to the 3rd lumbar. Low back pain (any pain actually) invites shallow breathing.

Can I get the same effect from inverted yoga postures? No. Gravity is the key (anti-gravity). Hanging and not compressing is the key. If we did not have gravity we would mostly not have low back pain unless we God forbid have a severe accident.

And there is some advice I resist, knowing I won't fully heed but might in truth work toward. Included here are an increased raw food diet, sleeping and awaking earlier, and moderating my "driven" modes of exercise. I can see the value in these things but resist making such changes in life style. Certainly not all at once---schooway. Take it slow and easier (notice I did not say "easy" as that may not be appropriate to addressing the tasks at hand) one day at a time.

Thank you for the books--I am reading them and also Barbara Kingsolver's book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, about her family's year of trying to eat in a self-sustained, local way--all three books are slightly different in how they approach this question of health and foods and life, and taken together they're provoking me to think about it kind of constantly. I like it.

So, Mike, I hope you can see that your input of time and information has been taken much to heart. I know I will continue to process it all and benefit from it as I continue to try to live in parasympathetic mode.

One parting question as I close this--do you know if hypnosis can help in disengaging from overbreathing and such sympathetic responses? Maybe depending on the hypnotist and your openness to the process. It will probably not replace rapidly changing and fine tuning the breathing mechanics while integrating it with the voice, personal power and mega doses of consciously created well being. But energy does often follow thought so I'd give it a good try. Hanging out with positive like minded people is also a great way to suport that process.

With much gratitude,

all my best to you,  Laurie 

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