Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are

The chaos of this modern world has pushed our schedules to the max. The workday greets us with a toxic sea of rush-hour traffic with no end in sight; and we have a myriad of deadlines to meet and contracts to sign. Qigong and meditation educator Dennis Lewis believes the time has come to break away and simply breathe! In this refreshing and easy-to-use guide, author Dennis Lewis instructs how to restore calmness and clarity. A long time practitioner of Taoism, Advaita and the Gurdjieff work, Lewis shares his knowledge of natural breathing to bring readers face to face with their true and present self. He demonstrates how focused breathing disbands physical and emotional knots and restores physical, mental, and spiritual levels. Breathe into Being offers purposeful breath through exercises that are short and attainable, while maintaining rich, insightful content. Learn how so many of us unconsciously hold our breaths, and how to correct this surprising and unhealthy tendency! Discover the body’s various breathing spaces and how to most effectively work with your diaphragm. Determine where your structural tensions lie and how to sense the spine and re-connect with your center of gravity. Both body and mind emerge refreshed and at peace, bringing spiritual vitality and awareness throughout. Whereas most books on breathing explore breath work as a means for achieving some future goal, Breathe into Being proves an invaluable tool for managing those real-life instances ‘in the present moment’ when mounting emotional stress and tensions can peak so suddenly.

About the author: A former businessman (co-founder and former president of Hi-Tech Public Relations) and a long-time-student of Taoism, Advaita, and the Gurdjieff Work, today Dennis Lewis teaches the transformative power of presence through Authentic Breathing®, qigong, meditation, mindfulness, and self-inquiry. He leads workshops throughout the United States, at venues such as Esalen Institute, The New York Open Center, The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and various qigong conferences. Dennis Lewis’ primary teacher for 15 years in the Gurdjieff Work was Lord John Pentland, who led the main line of the Work in America for many years, and who also made Lewis a group leader in the Gurdjieff Foundation of California (San Francisco). Lewis’ Taoist and qigong teachers over a ten-year period included Mantak Chia, Dr. Wang Shan Long, and Bruce Frantzis, all of whom certified him or gave him permission during those years to teach specific qigong forms and energy practices. Starting in the late 1980s, Lewis studied intensively for three years with the remarkable Advaita Vedanta master Jean Klein, whose work included an esoteric form of yoga and pranayama. Dennis Lewis is co-editor, with Jacob Needleman, of two books (now out of print): Sacred Tradition & Present Need(Viking) and On the Way to Self Knowledge(Knopf). Both books were published in the 1970s. Lewis’ book The Tao of Natural Breathing: For Health, Well-Being and Inner Growth was first published in September, 1996, and was republished by Rodmell Press in May, 2006. His two-cassette audio program entitled Breathing as a Metaphor for Living was released by Sounds True in September 1998, and then re-released on CD in April 2005 as Natural Breathing. His most recent book Free Your Breath, Free Your Life: How Conscious Breathing Can Relieve Stress, Increase Vitality, and Help You Live More Fully was published by Shambhala Publications in May 2004. Lewis’ writing has also appeared in numerous publications, including Yoga Journal, Gnosis, Parabola, Somatics, Library Journal, Manas, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is a member of the National Qigong Association and is listed in Who's Who in America and on Wikipedia. For more information, visit: www.dennislewis.org or www.dennislewisblog.com.