What Is Optimal Breathing™?

It is a qualified and quantified look and feel that is reflective of the best that can be had in the moment. It stems from a strong foundation and allows for freedom and depth and range of maximal experience. It allows for singing, athletics, meditating, laughing, bliss, crying, speaking out, performing delicate tasks, recovering from stress(s) of habituated activities that cause shallow or distorted breathing, the quickest and most thorough healing of wounds, illnesses and trauma, physical as well as emotional/spiritual.

Optimal Breathing Components

Each of the 8 Steps must contain key factors to ensure optimal deep and balanced breathing. Priority is dependent upon the condition and situation.

1. Breathing chemistry including exchange from lungs to blood and blood to lungs and oxygen transport to all other cells of body.
2. Diaphragm excursion
3. Rib expansion
4. Ease of the natural breathing reflexive action including breathing coordination (the relationship between rib expansion and diaphragm rise as influenced by posture and other physical and biochemical factors).
5. Nutrition
6. Posture
7. Attitude, thoughts, emotions, language
8. Tasks at hand such as resting, walking, talking, running, feeling or expressing joy and fear.

One may be more necessary at any given moment depending upon several circumstances such as stress and/or the task at hand. Optimal breathing can present itself during times of stress and challenge even where relaxation is neither possible nor adaptive.

Training for various tasks alters the ratios and needs for each of the 8 basic influences as it inputs a conditioning factor that changes mechanical and cellular needs in the moment.

I mostly refer to speed and dependability; replication. I am always afraid that the person will not get enough work done and miss the point and lose themselves in the process. This gives me a sense of urgency that may well color my approach sometimes but it inadequate or too slowly developing training is what happened to me and many others I have met.

Reflection, proprioception and the space between breaths is necessary but many are too stressed to slow down and get in touch. And the spaces (pauses) between the breaths get shorter and shorter. The breath is the primary stress modulator/stabilizer. It is the lead horse in the team of horses called the autonomic nervous system.

The way the breath drives the nervous system, can change for good the way that person thinks and feels regardless of the ideas or concepts or spiritual principles tied to this change. The breath can connect one to one's core. And yet ideas often cause a paradigm shift that creates quantum change in miraculous ways never before imagined; The breath can be released, reshaped and changed permanently just with ideas.

Though some paradigms can organize one for a healthier lifestyle, Tarthang Tulku reminds me that when we think of something in a certain way that we limit it and so I try to leave open the possibility for all spiritual ways of being by focusing on generic cross cultural breathing instead of breathing patterns representing selected paradigms - ways of being.

Optimal breathing is what I would call the foundation for a "generic spirituality". As many imply, the balance in life comes from integrating how we think and feel and act. But this balance can never be without the sustainable, replicated, healthy breathing function. The breath is the glue that connects the body, mind and spirit They are all interdependent. Which comes first? Feelings or thoughts? It depends. It is rarely all one or the other.

Trauma aside for now, words often restrict our breathing as in culturalization (spelling?) or socialization; being the way we think we should be, or the way others think we should be or "better" be.

There are several integrated spiritual systems. They are represented by religions, sects, cults, spiritual groups, shamans and ageless wisdom teachings.

I believe that balanced mechanical breathing function is largely overlooked and that is why I place its priority almost above all. It does not have a spiritual paradigm though spiritual paradigms are certainly of great value, depending on their agenda.

I want to go as deep and widely appropriate as possible, to bring all cultures of the world together in a mutual respect and admiration for our similarities. Balanced optimal breathing is generic to all humanity.

I again suggest that the way the breathing works in either a balanced or unbalanced way holds much of the foundation for being able to experience or express our individuality in an unbalanced or balanced way That, to the degree that any given paradigm-creator's breath is organized or maladaptive, is the degree that the paradigm will be slanted in favor of the creator of the paradigm and not the individuals embraced by it. A restricted chest fosters a restricted attitude and so on. Study body language and learn more about this or Emotional Anatomy by Stanley Kelemen.

The will is largely from thinking, the spirit from the breath (inspirate - breathe in spirit). It is quite helpful to learn to curb or guide our will without hindering or breaking our spirit.

I just want the breath to get its say so in each one of them. There are so many ways of thinking that it just seems to me more difficult to ever get agreement unless we all breathe or at least have the capability of breathing in a similar way.

I believe balanced optimal breathing is the foundation for a generic way of being; an indispensable part of the foundation for the experience of the oneness with all humanity that we all rational mankind yearns for.

Whether you call it overbreathing, hyperventilation, unbalanced breathing, maladaptive breathing or sub-optimal breathing, many receive great breathing AND respiration improvement with our self-help combination of Manual and Video or one of the other programs. If you need more, you work with Mike over the phone or come to his office and benefit from modern oxygen and carbon dioxide technology plus his in-person breathing development expertise.

Introductory package

Programs A-Z

Study the Breath

The Optimal Breathing School