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I awoke this morning not being able to breathe at all through either nostril and with what I know to be a sinus headache. In the past, when I have felt like I did this morning, I ended up with a sinus infection but it has been many years since I have had one.

I decided to do a video recording of the quality of my breathing - or, rather my breathlessness.

And then, while still lying down, began the breathwork practice that has become a staple of my waking and a source of great health.

Deep inhale, exhale a bit, deep inhale filling the abdomen and chest, exhale a bit, and do this rapidly 25 times. Then, on the 25th exhale, hold the breath out for as long as you can. 

While in the first hold, I began to feel my head opening up. Such a strange phenomena, but there was a sense of loosening even while holding the breath.

The body relaxed more, the sensations of relaxation moved through the body. 

And then, when ready, I inhaled.

I did 4 sets of these. 

On the third set, I held my breath for 4 minutes and 4 seconds. My longest ever hold. 

By the end of the fourth, I could breathe freely through both nostrils and I felt alive and vibrant. I recorded another video of my breathing. The difference in the before and after videos is quite amazing. 

Then, ice bath. Healthy food. Flushing the passageways. More breathwork. I even experimented with getting inverted very gradually as part of a yoga flow and this continued to move any remnants of the blockage out of the body and instead there was a sense of fluidity and movement. 

I didn’t feel perfect, but I wasn’t constricted.

Throughout the day, I monitored my breathing and the sense of pressure in my head. 

The body, after thousands of hours of practice, is micro-attuned and can relax subtle muscle groups and open passageways in a way that I remember medicine doing as a kid.

The medicine is in the body. Always was. I’ve just become a more informed and seasoned practitioner. 

I wonder what we have forgotten that humans already knew many hundreds of years ago in other cultures and times?

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Make friends with the body.

Be attuned to the body and breathe in the present. 

This is life.

Peace