Free Your Breath, Free Your Life and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Free Your Breath, Free Your Life on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Free Your Breath, Free Your Life: How Conscious Breathing Can Relieve Stress, Increase Vitality, and Help You Live More Fully [Paperback]

Dennis Lewis
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

List Price: $14.95
Price: $11.15 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.80 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 17 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Wednesday, May 29? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $9.99  
Paperback $11.15  
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

May 18, 2004
This book will show you how being aware of your breathing can have a profound impact on your physical and emotional health in a most positive way. Whether you are interested in stress reduction, easing a chronic breathing problem, or exploring the more spiritual aspects of breathing practice, this illustrated guide will provide you with practical, simple exercises to calm, energize, and generally enhance your sense of well-being. The author, Dennis Lewis, also shows how becoming more conscious of your breathing can reveal a lot about your self-image and help you deal more effectively with difficult emotions and situations.

Frequently Bought Together

Free Your Breath, Free Your Life: How Conscious Breathing Can Relieve Stress, Increase Vitality, and Help You Live More Fully + The Tao of Natural Breathing: For Health, Well-Being, and Inner Growth + Natural Breathing
Price for all three: $46.53

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is by far the most compelling and complete book on breathing I've ever read. It is 'must' reading for everyone who is interested in optimal health."—Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom



"Lewis teaches us how to assess our breathing and provides practical tools to help us learn to breathe better and create a healthier balance in our everyday lives. He makes clear that how we breathe reflects who we are and the manner in which we express ourselves—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This book is a wonderful resource for anyone who wishes to improve his or her health and vitality through the breath."—Len Saputo, M.D., coeditor of Boosting Immunity



"Dennis Lewis has a deep understanding of the central importance of breathing, in both its physical and spiritual dimensions—as the breath of life and the breath of the spirit. This book is a practical, inspiring guide to opening yourself to the larger energies of life through the medium of the breath. Highly recommended!"—John Welwood, author of Toward a Psychology of Awakening



"A delightful and innovative path to the most profound truth, shared by the world's greatest healing traditions: the way through any trauma, stress, illness, or injury is to first put attention on the breath. The reader will not only understand through Dennis's inspired writing, but get to experience through numerous excellent, practical exercises how conscious and authentic breathing is the gateway to enhanced health and vitality."—Meg Jordan, Ph.D., author of The Fitness Instinct and founder and editor of American Fitness



"It is extremely difficult to write well and truly about the healing role of breathing both in our everyday life and on the way to great self-knowledge. Dennis Lewis succeeds through a rare combination of clear-headed, practical thought and spiritual sensitivity."—Jacob Needleman, author of The American Soul



"Dennis Lewis is a colleague, teacher, author, poet, and dedicated student of the breath and breathing. Free Your Breath, Free Your Life is not just a good book—it is a great book. It is required reading for all my students attending the Optimal Breathing School. It should be required reading for everyone."—Michael Grant White, Executive Director, Breathing.com



"This is a truly inspiring and informative book. It is a master breath-worker's book for those who wish to attain breath, and thus self-mastery."—Dr. Joy Manne, author of Soul Therapy, editor of The Healing Breath: A Journal of Breathwork Practice, Psychology, and Spirituality

From the Publisher

The way we breathe shapes every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately, "Few of us in today's stress-filled world breathe in a free, natural, and harmonious way," says Lewis. "Our mostly fast, constricted breathing undermines our physical, emotional, and spiritual health," and "reduces our capacity to sense, feel, think, and act in clear, sensitive, and effective ways."

To help remedy this situation, Lewis shows how breathing exercises really work. He does so by exploring the seven basic self-directed approaches to working with your breath: conscious breathing, controlled breathing, focused breathing, movement-supported breathing, position-supported breathing, touch-supported breathing, and sound-supported breathing. Within each of these approaches he offers a wealth of breathing practices and insights to help you open up the constrictions in your breathing, breathe with your whole body, and live with more presence and vitality in your everyday life. His emphasis throughout is on helping you to learn how to exhale more fully, to let go of everything that impedes the movements of your breath.

According to Lewis, we in the Western world don’t pay much attention to the way we breathe, but the world's great spiritual traditions all have practices of breath awareness. Lewis maintains that "the breath of life" is what truly connects the different dimensions of ourselves--body, mind, and spirit--and that through conscious breathing we can help transform not just our health but also the very way we live. Lewis explores in depth both the physical and spiritual aspects of how we breathe, and discusses the many ways that our self-image (including the clothes we wear, the way we exercise, and our sense of self-importance) shapes our breathing and our lives.

Many books on breathing have appeared in recent years, but Free Your Breath, Free Your Life is one of the rare few that does not take a one-size-fits-all approach. Lewis explores the basic principles of healthy, whole-body breathing in clear, simple language, with numerous illustrations, and offers a variety of safe exercises and practices for experiencing these principles firsthand. And just as important, Lewis shows how you can apply these principles in relation to your own specific physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, so that you can live a freer, fuller, more conscious life.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Shambhala; First Edition edition (May 18, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1590301331
  • ISBN-13: 978-1590301333
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dennis Lewis (1940-), a long-time-student of Taoism, Advaita, and the Gurdjieff Work, teaches the transformative power of presence through Authentic Breathing(R), 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.

Lewis co-edited two books (now out of print) with Jacob Needleman in the 1970s: "Sacred Tradition & Present Need" and "On the Way to Self Knowledge." His 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 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. His most recent book "Breathe Into Being: Awakening to Who You Really Are," was published by Quest Books in May 2009.

He is a member of the National Qigong Association and is listed in Who's Who in America.

Customer Reviews

It's well organized and easy to absorb. B. Boop  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
If you want to improve your quality of life, begin with the breath and begin with Dennis Lewis. Jaime Vendera  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I've worked with computers for many years and have faced (and continue to face) a great deal of stress in my life. I've tried a variety of breathing exercises to help deal with this stress, but most of them didn't really help--at least not for very long.

I picked up a copy of this new book a couple of weeks ago at the
San Francisco New Living Expo, where the author gave a talk, and it has already helped immensely. The book does not take a "one size fits all" approach to breathing exercises, but rather explains the seven fundamental ways that we can work with our breath, including what he calls conscious breathing, touch-supported breathing, movement-supported breathing, and sound-supported breathing. His exploration of these various approaches, along with safe exercises illustrating each one, has given me many new insights into what I suppose could be called "the anatomy of breathing exercises." It has helped understand better what various types of breathing exercises can and cannot do, and which ones are most helpful for me personally.

In addition to offering a variety of simple practices, along with helpful illustrations, the book provides an entire section to help open up our "breathing spaces," a section on the relationship of breathing to our self-image and to the spiritual dimensions of breathing, and another section with some very helpful breathing meditations for going deeper into ourselves. The two meditations that I have found very helpful so far (I have not tried them all yet) are "Awakening the Breath of the Heart" and "Expanding Time."

I recommend this book very highly to anyone who has to deal with high levels of stress in their lives, which is probably most people today. It has already helped me a lot.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Discover the heart of your life: your breath June 14, 2004
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I came across this book when looking for something to help me understand and deal with a problem of overbreathing, which was leading to a variety of health problems. As a lapsed meditator, I'm familiar with watching the breath, but over the years had developed a habit of trying to breath too much, and, in return, not breathing well.

This book gave me first of all a chance to look at my breathing and see how it should be. The early sections of the book, that discuss how you breathe, and above all how you should let yourself breathe, recentered me in this area. Then the exercises let me relax and calm my breathing, until it quickly got back to a more normal ryhthm and depth. While there's a long way to go, the book's many exercises and insights provide an ideal program for rediscovering the breath and letting it do its work correctly.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars everything it promised September 28, 2005
By B. Boop
Format:Paperback
I found this book helpful for stress relief, more conscious breathing and better sleep. It's well organized and easy to absorb. Aside from the practical applications it lays out, the book also offers good insights on why we don't breathe properly and the negative effect poor breathing can have on the body and on overall health. I highly recommend it.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Wasn't exactly what I needed
I did these breathing exercises daily for a couple of months. I'm a very relaxed person and probably breathed fine to begin with. I didn't notice any changes from the exercises. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alexandra Hopkins
4.0 out of 5 stars Well presented methods
I like this book, it has a lot of techniques and it interfaces well with the method of meditation on the breath. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Richard H. Pratt
3.0 out of 5 stars lost my attention
I could just be that lazy ignorant college student, but I feel add if this was written to be a text book (Yawn). Read more
Published 3 months ago by Juan De La Rosa
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good information
After delving into the mind-body connection recently, I became interested in breathing for stress relief/illness recovery. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mel
5.0 out of 5 stars breathing book
Excellent service and product quality. No problems were encountered and I have no complaints were made. I would be happy to lesser more products from this vender.
Published 8 months ago by Betty J. Deal
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for beginning breathing exercises
This book is fantastic. I wanted to learn breathing exercises and have the basics of breathing practices explained. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Austin
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow down, take a breath, and read this book!
A wonderful book that, besides offering many of easy practices, along with truly helpful illustrations, the book provides an entire chapter to help open up "breathing spaces" as... Read more
Published on July 6, 2009 by Christine Richardson
4.0 out of 5 stars It's True!
Most of us...most of the time...do not breathe adequately. Change your breathing and you change everything.

Easy to read and understand.
Published on April 30, 2009 by MetaMs
5.0 out of 5 stars Free Your Breath, Free Your Life
I think this book had some good ideas for breathing techniques, I liked that there was more than one so you could try and find the one that was most effective for the reader.
Published on April 7, 2009 by book reader
5.0 out of 5 stars A requirement for my students! Highly Recommended!
Author Dennis Lewis has created a masterpiece with "Free Your Breath, Free Your Life". In the society in which we function, everyone seems to forget about the mind, body and... Read more
Published on February 6, 2008 by Jaime Vendera
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews





Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 





Look for Similar Items by Category