The breath is the foundation for many traditional meditations. It is considered to be the outward manifestation of the life force energy in yoga. The breath has the capacity to create a bridge between your body and soul. Its vitality impacts every aspect of your physical, emotional and spiritual health. The breath also has the ability to enhance and spur the development of your intuition. Since the breath is both voluntary and involuntary, you always have a choice to run on automatic or to approach your life consciously aware, one breath at a time. Unfortunately, when your breath runs on automatic, it can lose touch with its innate rhythm and become chaotic. When this happens, it becomes more difficult to keep your unconscious patterns and emotions from playing havoc with your life, and it is also almost impossible to accurately decode any information you receive from your inner voice.

There are many ways to develop your intuition, but I continue to prefer the simple act of deep abdominal breathing because you can use it to hone your craft while you are doing other things. I have many responsibilities that tug at me throughout my day, which makes it impossible to devote as much time as I would like to a daily practice. The process of deep abdominal breathing allows me to intertwine my practice into all of my waking hours.

So if the conscious awareness of the breath is so empowering, why do we repeatedly ignore it? Very simply, that is a way to close down or numb ourselves to things that we don't want to see or deal with. Shallow breathing can be the reaction to something that is taking place in your current life or something you are still trying to keep suppressed from early childhood. Unfortunately, when we numb ourselves to our pain we also disconnect from our intuition. I can't imagine an existence where I wasn't passionately and intimately involved with my sixth sense. It is my companion, friend, teacher, guide and the source of endless entertainment.

Breathing from the belly is as natural as being intuitive. When I breath in this manner, I become alive and electrified and experience my intertwining with all that exists. Each breath of air has the ability to release blocked or stagnant energy in my body and activate my inner sight. Deep within the natural rhythm of my breath lies a primordial awareness that I am an integral part of this living, breathing Universe and that I belong. This is also where the fire of my intuition erupts and the place where my body, mind and spirit are one.

If you feel unsure, or have difficulty breathing in your lower belly, then begin by focusing only on the exhalation. Let each breath out very slowly, and view your body as if it were a deflating balloon or a bird gliding on the wind. When you feel more comfortable, see if each exhalation can bring about a little more relaxation. For when the body becomes calm and relaxed, the intuition is activated. You never want to push the breath, because that will just keep your innate intuitive intelligence from blossoming.

In order to bond once again with your intuition, you need to travel on the winding, spiraling, breathing path that all of nature travels. You cannot return to your soul or its voice, your intuition, via the fast lane, or through the ordered linear ways of the world. Now, don't get me wrong, following your intuition is not always serious business. Many times I need to be as goofy as a dog, as spontaneous as a child and as trusting as a trapeze artist to completely decode information accurately.

When you find yourself breathing with a full belly breath, you will find that every inhalation and exhalation activates your intuition naturally. We were designed to be fully seeing, breathing and feeling beings, but the stress and pressure of our current society perpetuates the disconnection from our intuitions and our spirits. From that place of "spirit disconnection", it is difficult for us to stay in touch with what's really important. A better solution to this problem is to slow down through the practice of deep abdominal breathing, and disconnect yourself instead from those things in your life that prevent you from being with yourself. When you do this you will discover that you are already intuitive, you just need to reemerge more fully into life. In shallow breathing, your lungs don't fully expand, which means the blood vessels that carry oxygen to your cells don't get enough oxygen. To compensate, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, and your cardiovascular system has to work overtime. In such a stressful state, your body reverts back to its old survival patterns and responses, making it extremely difficult to act or respond from a clear and conscious point of view. In contrast, when you practice deep abdominal breathing, your lungs fill up with oxygen allowing your body to stay in a more relaxed and natural state. This frame of mind allows your internal chatter to stop and your innate inner voice to be heard. Over the years I have discovered that most people are very intuitive. Their problem usually lies in the decoding; that is why I repeatedly recommend deep abdominal breathing. I rely on the breath because it expands my field of vision while grounding me in the moment, thus keeping me from distorting the information I am receiving.

Your body is designed to return to a normal, relaxed state a short time after a crisis has passed. But if shallow and unconscious breathing has become your habit, you can be perpetually stuck in the " fight or flight" response. This can create a condition I call "quick hits". This is where your intuition is working, but it is only skimming off the top layer of information. In order to rely on your intuitive information, you need to dip deeper into its pool of knowledge and get a bigger picture. When you repeatedly follow the information from "quick hits" you can be left with the feeling that your inner voice isn't reliable or you are not very intuitive. If you notice this to be true for you, deep abdominal breathing can break this pattern. For as soon as you shift from shallow breathing to deep abdominal breathing, you send your body a message that danger has passed and then, automatically, all responses, including you intuition, begin to return to balance. There are many breath techniques but this following exercise is part of the foundation for my intuitive development. I hope it serves you as well as it has served me. When you begin working, set aside some quiet time so that all of your attention can focus inward. After you are comfortable with this style of breathing, take it out into your life. Whenever you are stressed, confused, frustrated or even a little off balance, pull your attention back to your lower belly. Feel it fill up with air like a balloon and then use your abdominal muscles to squeeze all of the air out. You will find that this simple exercise is also a great recentering technique, which can be used anywhere and anytime.

The Breath Exercise:
Make yourself comfortable. If you have a tendency to get cold, cover yourself with a blanket. It doesn't matter whether you're sitting or lying down, but your body needs to be relaxed. Close your eyes and place one hand on your lower belly and one hand on your chest. Inhale slowly through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. As you inhale, feel the air slowly fill your lower belly like a balloon . When it is full, use your abdominal muscles to slowly squeeze out all of the air. (The reason I recommend exhaling through your mouth in the beginning, it that it is easier to control and slow down the exhalation. Throughout this exercise you are looking to find the innate rhythmic pattern that is unique to you. There is no right way, just the rhythm that feels right to you.)

The hand on your lower belly should move up slightly as your belly is filled with air, and down slightly when the air is slowly expelled. While the hand on your chest should remain stationary. If you have trouble getting your breath to be smooth, move your body into a more horizontal position. (It's easier for the body to return to its natural breathing patterns when it is lying down.) Focus on allowing each breath to be slow, relaxed and smooth. Continue for five to ten minutes.

Doing this simple exercise daily will help awaken the bond and communication between your body and your soul. Your healing might also begin with you becoming more aware of imbalances in your personal or professional life, or you may just find yourself being more mindful of things that you no longer want to do. Allow these changes to take place and fill your life instead with things that feed your soul. You will probably also notice a stillness and inner contentment growing within you. When this happens, it will be easier to hear your inner guidance.

Remember, shallow breathing perpetuates linear brain dominance by amplifying the internal dissonance, while deep abdominal breathing encourages opening of your intuitive brain and deepening your connection with your soul and the whole Universe.

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Nancy Marie is an author, illustrator, teacher and gifted psychic. For the last two decades, she has guided thousands of people back to their own clarity and inner peace through her private consultations and workshops. She hopes her book, The Beckoning Song of Your Soul, A Guidebook for Developing Your Intuition, is helping move intuition away from the esoteric and back into the mainstream of life, where it belongs. Explore the other pages of this website for more information.