• “ It is a common belief that we breathe with our lungs alone, but in point of fact, the work of breathing is done by the whole body. The lungs play a passive role in the respiratory process. Their expansion is produced by an enlargement, mostly downward, of the thoracic cavity and they collapse when that cavity is reduced. Proper breathing involves the muscles of the head, neck, thorax, and abdomen. It can be shown that chronic tension in any part of the body's musculature interferes with the natural respiratory movements. Breathing is a rhythmic activity. Normally a person at rest makes approximately 16 to 17 respiratory incursions a minute. The rate is higher in infants and in states of excitation. It is lower in sleep and in depressed persons. The depth of the respiratory wave is another factor which varies with emotional states. Breathing becomes shallow when we are frightened or anxious. It deepens with relaxation, pleasure and sleep. But above all, it is the quality of the respiratory movements that determines whether breathing is pleasurable or not. With each breath a wave can be seen to ascend and descend through the body. The inspiratory wave begins deep in the abdomen with a backward movement of the pelvis. This allows the belly to expand outward. The wave then moves upward as the rest of the body expands. The head moves very slightly forward to suck in the air while the nostrils dilate or the mouth opens. The expiratory wave begins in the upper part of the body and moves downward: the head drops back, the chest and abdomen collapse, and the pelvis rocks forward. Breathing easily and fully is one of the basic pleasures of being alive. The pleasure is clearly experienced at the end of expiration when the descending wave fills the pelvis with a delicious sensation. In adults this sensation has a sexual quality, though it does not induce any genital feeling. The slight backward and forward movements of the pelvis, similar to the sexual movements, add to the pleasure. Though the rhythm of breathing is pronounced in the pelvic area, it is at the same time experienced by the total body as a feeling of fluidity, softness, lightness and excitement. The importance of breathing need hardly be stressed. It provides the oxygen for the metabolic processes; literally it supports the fires of life. But breath as "pneuma" is also the spirit or soul. We live in an ocean of air like fish in a body of water. By our breathing we are attuned to our atmosphere. If we inhibit our breathing we isolate ourselves from the medium in which we exist. In all Oriental and mystic philosophies, the breath holds the secret to the highest bliss. That is why breathing is the dominant factor in the practice of Yoga.(less)”

― Alexander Lowen, The Voice of the Body

• “The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes. ” ― Pema Chödrön
• We have to find our peace of mind, find our purpose, our passion, our joie de vivre.It requires that we lay down the ego’s defenses and be naked and vulnerable; that we give up our planning and fantasizing about the future and live in the Now.
• Here's something important to know: not everyone is able to love freely. Life can do funny things to people, and sometimes the damage is deep. This applies to all people, whether they're family, friends, or romantic interests. When someone can't or doesn't love us the way we want them to, it's very painful, but it's part of life. If it's a family member, a parent or a child or sibling, it can be brutal. It's so hard to separate out what belongs to us, and what belongs to other people. To recognize that a person's capacity to love is not a reflection on you. If your mom or dad couldn't love you well due to their own limitations, the timing of your birth into their still-forming lives, or their own history with neglect, that's a wound that will need some serious healing. As a kid, it's impossible not to take that personally, not to take it to heart. I hear from people every day who were abandoned by one parent or the other, sometimes both. Who were told they were worthless, an accident, a burden. Any parent who can say that to their child is very damaged, indeed.

If you grew up in an environment where you doubted whether you were loved, where you didn't feel secure or valued or protected, it's sadly very likely you'll be drawn to interactions with the same dynamic as you go out into the world. Most people will choose what they know over what they don't. But there are times when learning something completely different would serve a person well. When you find yourself working too hard, bending over backwards to be enough for someone, that's a burning red flag. Because real love doesn't feel that way. It doesn't diminish you, it emboldens you to be more of yourself. To open more and share more and learn more as you evolve. True love is the most liberating thing there is. Conditional love is not love. It's control. If you do X, then I'll love you. If you show up the way I want you to, and you give me what I want, then I'll love you. Hmmm, really?

When you love from your heart, you give. Not because you want to get, although receiving love is lovely, but because giving comes naturally. When we love someone we want to see them happy. I see so many people enter into relationships projecting all over the place. Jumping in head first, swimming in hormones, having decided this is it!! Attributing all kinds of things to their partners that may or may not be there, instead of allowing the person they're just getting to know, to reveal themselves. When we're attached to an idea, like the idea of being in love, or the idea of a particular person being in love with us, it's blinding. There's no way to see what's real, what's right in front of you. Because you're already ahead of yourself. That isn't loving someone.

When we love and it's real, we're seeing the other person clearly, and we're saying yes. Yes I see you, and I love what I see. Or we're seeing clearly, and we're saying no. No, this doesn't work for me, after all. I see you, and I accept you as you are, but I know myself well enough to recognize this won't work, and I respect you enough to tell you. Love is the foundation of freedom and acceptance. It's not a choke-collar. And you won't have to chase it down like an overly excited puppy. Sometimes we get so attached to the idea of being loved by someone, we lose touch with what is. If a person is feeling what you're feeling, you'll know it. It won't be a mystery. If someone wants to be with you, they''ll find a way. You'll hurt your heart more if you lie to yourself about that. You won't be waiting for the phone to ring. And you won't have to sell yourself, or obsess about every little thing you said or did. True love gives you permission to relax. It's an embrace. If someone can't embrace you, you may need to take your beautiful heart and move in another direction. If it's a family member, you may have to love them from afar. But your heart is precious. Don't give it away lightly, and don't ever sell it. If a person can't see your beauty, walk in the other direction. If your heart wasn't protected as a kid, you get to protect it now, as an adult. And that's a privilege, don't you think? Wishing you the strength to walk away from anything that makes you feel diminished. And the intuition to walk toward the people who see you.

• we practice yoga to develop our own minds and our bodies, to learn what we are capable of and to control our breath. Yoga is not about what others think of you or to be in competition with others. It is a personal journey. You need not feel threatened by strong women. We focus on our internal selves, there is no place in yoga to judge the others around us.
• Spiral - The Spiral, which is the oldest symbol known to be used in spiritual practices, reflects the universal pattern of growth and evolution. The spiral represents the goddess, the womb, fertility and life force energy. Reflected in the natural world, the Spiral is found in human physiology, plants, minerals, animals, energy patterns, weather, growth and death. The Spiral is a sacred symbol that reminds us of our evolving journey in life. When used as a personal talisman, the Spiral helps consciousness to accept the turnings and changes of life as it evolves. The acceptance of change is one of the greatest freedoms a human can experience, putting consciousness in the present moment where the power of creation is condensed. On a larger scale, using this symbol assures all beings are reminded of their inward and outward evolution, a balanced and centered state of mind. On water, it carries the power to flow and change.

"Millions of people are suffering: they want to be loved but they don't know how to love. And love cannot exist as a monologue; it is a dialogue, a very harmonious dialogue." ---- OSHO

• You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. -Bob Marley
• Question : How does one overcome the pull toward Sex so that the Kundalini Can go upward? Osho : Energy has been going downward through the sex center continuously for many births, so when any energy is created it will first try to move downward. That is why meditation sometimes will create more sexuality in you than you have ever felt before. You will feel more sexual because you have generated more energy than you previously had. When you have conserved something, the old, habitual passage is ready to release it. The mechanism is ready, the old passage is ready. Your mind only knows one passage – the lower one, the sexual passage – so when you are meditating the first movement of your life energy will be downward. Just be aware of it. Do not struggle with it; just be aware of it. Be aware of the habitual passage, be aware of sexual images; let them come. Be aware of them, but do not do anything about the situation; just be aware of it. The sexual passage cannot operate without your cooperation, but if you cooperate with it even for a single moment, it can start functioning. So do not cooperate with it: just be aware of it. The mechanism of sex is so much a momentary phenomenon that it only functions momentarily; if you do not cooperate at the right moment, it stops. At the right moment your cooperation is needed, otherwise it cannot work. It is only a momentary mechanism, and if you do not cooperate with it, it will stop by itself. Time and time again, energy is created through meditation. It continues to move downward, but now you are aware of it. The old passage is cut – not suppressed. Energy is there and it needs to be released, but the lower door is closed: not suppressed – closed. You have not cooperated with it, that’s all. You have not positively suppressed it, you have only negatively not cooperated with it. You have just been aware of what is happening to your mind, to your body. You are just aware; then energy is conserved. Then the quantity of the energy becomes more and more intense and an upward thrust becomes necessary. Now the energy will go upward; by its very force, a new passage will be thrown open. When energy goes upward you will be more sexually attractive to others, because life energy going upward creates a great magnetic force. You will become more sexually attractive to others, so you will have to be aware of this. Now you will attract persons unknowingly, and the attraction will not only be physical; the attraction will be etheric. Even a repulsive body, a nonattractive body, will become attractive with yoga. The attraction is etheric; and it is so magnetic that one has to be constantly aware of it, constantly aware. You will be attractive… and the opposite sex will be irresistably drawn to you. There are subtle vibrations that are created by your etheric body: you have to be aware of them. The type of attraction that will be felt by the opposite sex will differ – it will take so many different forms – but basically it will be sexual. At its root, it will be sexual. But you can help these people. Even if they are attracted to you sexually, they have become attracted to a sexual energy that is moving upward. And they too are not ordinary sexual beings: upwardmoving sexual energy has become an attraction, a magnet. So you can help them; if you do not become involved, then you can help them.