Anne's Note reminds us that Wherever We Go, There We Are. The main article, Change Your Breath, Change Your Life, describes the benefits and practice of deliberate, conscious breathing. Healthy Living gives us a recipe for a Probiotic Face Mask for Men and Women. The Anne Talk isn't an Anne Talk as such, but it shows an example of EZosophy in action: The Fly and The Locust. The Featured Product this month is Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

Living EZosophy, September 22, 2015
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  A Note From Anne

Dear ,

After riding for more than 3,300 miles, we are home. It didn’t take long to get back into the swing of things. Life appears, along with its demands, adventures, and quests, regardless of our location. Often people think that if they move, life in the new place will provide salvation. While radical external change does create intensity, it provides only temporary distractions from our problems.

I always love the wisdom of Michael Jackson’s song about change, The Man in the Mirror. Click the image above to listen to the song and view its lyrics.

If we want to change, we have to start within. While outer changes can assist us, in the physical realm, living in a one story home when you have trouble climbing stairs helps, but the state of our spirit is self-determined. Change isn’t even the best word to use on our journey. We have to wake up to the peace and joy already present, not change our jobs, mates, or housing in hopes that change will make a lasting difference.

Anne

  Change Your Breath, Change Your Life

There’s a belief that our breaths are numbered. If we breathe short breaths, we live a shorter life than if we breathe long, slow breaths. Maybe there’s some truth to the eastern viewpoint. Ever notice how short your breath becomes when you are afraid and how steady and full the breath is when you are content? Relaxed living, along with full breathing, is not only an antidote for stress; it is a doorway to a profound sense of peace.

When I was 17 years old my father and I happened into a  metaphysical bookstore. I spotted a book on breathing, picked it up, and thumbed through the pages. The book came alive in my hands. It held an air of mystery and excitement. A few days later, when I returned to purchase the book, I couldn’t find it, but even without tangible encouragement, the excitement for conscious breathing lingered.

It wasn’t until 1981 that I had my first experience with a connected breathing process called rebirthing. I reclined and a rebirther coached my breath. Emotions surfaced. Old wounds and tears gave way to peace and radical contentment. Life came alive. The session was probably two hours long. She charged $80.00. It was a financial stretch for me, but the session was truly worth a fortune. I found a door to the infinite, a friend who was always with me. Subsequently I studied rebirthing and became a rebirther.

When we are angry, irritated, afraid, sad, or depressed, we restrict our breath. We develop holding patterns. When we focus on our breath, we become aware of these patterns. When we notice our breath is restricted, without thinking, we usually breathe deeper. When we breathe deeper there’s more oxygen delivered to our organs. Breath is the best medicine available to our bodies. One big gulp of air won’t do much good, but a steady inflow of focused deeper breathing works magic on our bodies and our moods. Mindful breathing, when practiced as a lifestyle, is a light that awakens us to our true nature. The conscious breath moves us from addictive thinking patterns to a deeper stillness. The mind seems roomier when it’s not grasping for content or cluttered with meaningless chatter.

It takes a bit of convincing to convert the mind from the common practice of analyzing, judging, critiquing, and figuring, to being aware of our breathing patterns and finally to freeing the breath. The mind is not driven by content; it is driven by activity. The mind flourishes on speed and intensity, and in its frenetic scamper, it obscures reality. It feeds on the intensity. The mind, with its relentless activity, forms a veil, and the veil creates illusion. We call the illusion life, but life as we know it is a mind made structure that eventually falls, and when it does, the mind goes berserk. Breath watching and conscious breathing practices decontaminate and disarm the mind in small increments. It is like slowly waking up from a deep sleep.

Try one of these training exercises:

• Set a timer for 5 minutes. Walk around in a large circle in your home or any walking pattern suitable to your situation, and as you walk, silently count as you breathe. Breathe in to the count of four and out to the count of six. Do this for five minutes. In life we get sloppy with our exhales, causing stagnant air to form in the bottom of our lungs, so it’s more effective to make the exhale a little longer. This breath moves us into deeper physical spaces.
• While doing your normal activities, such as walking to the car, walking upstairs, dusting, cleaning your room, doing the laundry, notice the breath. Describe silently to yourself, “I notice I am taking a long breath, a short breath, a heavy breath, or I notice I am holding my breath, or I am taking a strong breath.” Describe each breath as you experience it. Do this as often as you think of it, or, to create more focus, use a timer or an alarm that goes off every five minutes, to put you on track.
• Get in a seated position. Set a timer for five minutes. Use your thumb and ring finger to close the left nostril as you breathe in the right nostril, and then close the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril, while closing the right nostril. Inhale through the left nostril, close the left nostril, and exhale though the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril and exhale though the left nostril. You will be inhaling and exhaling through alternate nostrils and closing the nostril opposite of the one you are inhaling or exhaling through. When you get the hang of this, then count your breaths to the count of four. FYI, Apana is the incoming breath and prana is the outgoing breath.

The Taoists refer to the nine unsettled breaths. The anger breath is an unsettled breath. Fear, grief, heat, cold, terror, delirium, thinking such as worry and analyzing – all these produce unsettled breaths. Practicing conscious breathing or watching the breath settles the breath. When the breath is settled, we feel settled. Some say that breathing is the prayer of the mystics. Working with the breath produces a unique kind of intimacy. The breath becomes a trusted friend who is always loving, always with us, and always pulling us deeper into the stillness of being. It’s always time to make the breath our trusted friend, and when we do, we find that life is EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

"Do I want to keep feeling bad around critical people? I can’t change them, but I can change how I feel."
— Anne Sermons Gillis

"Anger is a form of guilt. It pushes the other person away to prove you are unworthy."
— Sondra Ray

"In this very body you can become a yogi or a saint. Or in this very body you can become a blind pleasure-seeker. You can trap this body in mundane activities, or you can withdraw yourself from the mechanical routine of every day life and focus on the inner world. In this very body you can go to heaven or pave your way to hell. Man can do anything with the body he has been given; such is its divinity."
— Muktananda

  Featured Product This Month

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn more.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

Probiotic Face Mask for Men and Women

Everything in and on our bodies requires a healthy bacterial balance and the face is no different. Try this wonderful probiotic mask that brings your facial skin into a healthy balance. This recipe comes from Wellness Mama. Mama creates a variety of healthy cosmetics and products we can make in our kitchen.

• 1 Tablespoon plain, whole, organic yogurt, but I used low-fat and it worked well because I added oil.
• 1 capsule of probiotics. I used half a capsule.
• For Oily Skin: 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder.
• For Dry Skin: 1 teaspoon olive oil. I use avocado oil. Coconut oil will work too, but the yogurt must be at room temperature or warmer if the room is chilly.

Mix. Gently apply to face using fingers to apply. If you wear glasses, you will want to take them off.

1. Leave on for 10-30 minutes. 10 minutes will moisturize, but leaving it on for 30 minutes adds deep cleaning.
2. Rinse off with warm filtered water and pat dry. Smile!
3. Remember the Wow face exercise from last week? This would be a great time to do it.

  Anne Talks

While this video is not an Anne Talk, it does say something. One day I saw this fly like creature hauling a dead locust. In comparison to the fly, the locust was huge. Amazed by his unwavering tenacity, I captured the art of EZosophy in action. Nature does what it needs to do, regardless of the difficulty of the job. Can we be like the locust and the fly? When we have a difficult task, can we just do it without telling a story of woe? Can we even smile while doing manual labor or a long report? Click the graphic above to watch.Time: 0:40

  Anne Art

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Click the image to see a larger view.

   Anne's Schedule

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You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.