A Return to Love ... and Avalon

Love is within us. It cannot be destroyed, but can only be hidden. The world we knew a children is still buried within our minds. I once read a delightful book called The Mists of Avalon. The mists of Avalon are a mythical allusion to the tales of King Arthur. Avalon is a magical island that is hidden behind huge impenetrable mists. Unless the mists part, there is no way to navigate your way to the island. But unless you believe the island is there, the mists won’t part.

Avalon symbolizes a world beyond the world we see with our physical eyes. It represents a miraculous sense of things, the enchanted realm that we knew as children. Our childlike self is the deepest level of our being. It is who we really are and what is real doesn’t go away. The truth doesn’t’ stop being the truth just because we’re not looking at it. Love merely becomes clouded over, or surrounded by mental mists.

Avalon is the world we knew when we were still connected to our softness, our innocence, our spirit. It’s actually the same world we see now, but informed by love, interpreted gently with hope and faith and a sense of wonder. It’s easily retrieved, because perception is a choice. The mists part when we believe that Avalon is behind them.
And that’s what a miracle is: a parting of the mists, a shift in perception, a return to love.

Extract from A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson (end of the introduction)

Breathing... hmmm... :)

Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out.
In... Out...
Breathing in, my in-breath has become deep.
Breathing out, my out-breath has become slow.
Deep... Slow...
Breathing in, I feel calm.
Breathing out, I feel at ease.
Calm... Ease...
Breathing in, I smile.
Breathing out, I release all my worries and anxieties.
Smile... Release...
Breathing in, I dwell deeply in the present moment.
Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment.
Present moment... Wonderful moment...

Thich Nhat Hanh

Oneness, Co-Creation and New Possibilities For a Breathing World

I have been an unconditional fan of the International Breathwork Foundation (IBF) and its Global Inspiration Conferences (GIC) for many years. GIC 2010 was my 10th GIC, but my goodness, it was of another kind altogether, like we all had walked into a higher dimension, co-creating our daily reality in harmony, living as one. It was magical, it was easy, and it was natural.

“Growing Together” was the theme of this year’s conference, setting the scene like a mega-intention of co-creation with the Universe.
In his excellent keynote speech about “The Evolution of Consciousness from Systemic to Holistic”, Dr Wilfried Ehrmann defined pointers such as “multidimensionality vs duality”, “surrender to the present moment”, “power independent of people”, “work as service”, and “every breath connecting us to the whole”. As the week went by, we were able to identify every single one of these pointers in our actual daily experience.
It was an unforgettable experience and represents, in my opinion, a huge milestone in the history of IBF, and a message of hope for humanity!

What happened really and what were the ingredients of such a phenomenon?

Firstly, the GIC 2010 Organising team, under the very inspired leadership of Manuel Atienza, was a model of love, service and dedication. Throughout two years of dedicated GIC preparation they appeared to have become as one. The love and respect they had for each other (and for the participants) was palpable and the presentation they gave at the talent show was a testimony to the fun and joy they experienced together. The venue they had chosen was exceptional, nestled half way between heaven and earth, with magnificent surrounding views. We had the place for ourselves and everything was running perfectly, apparently effortlessly. On the far horizon the sacred mountains of Montserrat seemed to be watching over everyone.

The IBF Task Force too worked smoothly together during the conference as they had been throughout the previous year thanks to regular cyber-conferences. There was trust among them and lots of love and fun. It was magical to witness how IBF National Coordinators, Integrity Committee or Admin Team members naturally took on additional responsibilities. One of such initiative was the spontaneous organisation of a Task Force breathing circle at the end of a rather frustrating voting session. We all postponed our lunch to lie down and breath together. It was so good that we regrouped everyday after the AGM to support each other, and for the sheer pleasure of breathing together.

Within the IBF’s unique peer-based GIC structure, it is traditionally the participants who actually provide the conference’s substance, as several spaces are available for them daily to offer breathwork workshops, facilitate group discussions or present keynote speeches. In a perfect model of smooth co-creation, GIC 2010 participants were magnificent and shared very generously their wisdom and skills. Every morning the spontaneous offer of appealing workshops got bigger. Even the “siesta” slot was filled with not-to-be-missed opportunities to learn and grow.
As for the daily AGM slots, which are in themselves a very interesting model of co-creation, there was an additional opportunity to share inspiration and move the organisation on further, with ease and grace.
At the end of each afternoon, everyone met in the main marquee to hear about the latest development in breathwork or related domains through fascinating specialised lectures given by our eminent keynote speakers. A great characteristic of GIC is that keynote speakers also spend the whole week at the conference as participants, being available for further questions and also having the opportunity to learn from their peers. Michael Brown, author of “The Presence Process”, an excellent book offering a journey into present moment awareness, was one of them. Not only the various talks he delighted us with, but also his sheer presence throughout the week, were gentle reminders for us to be living in the present moment.

In this space of high vibrations, I found it both exhilarating and effortless to be in the moment – moment by moment – looking at how best I could align my intention to the conference’s theme and let miracles happen. Sometimes it just meant that I should go and lie down in the welcoming shade of a tree. Other times, it meant meeting with the AT and ICs until past midnight to discuss a delicate matter, or on one occasion, screaming in a breathing session to get the energy moving, or sharing my heart with someone I was carefully trying to avoid.
Synchronicity was noticeably at play all the time, love was bountiful, Presence was … present.

Since the year 2000 when I first attended GIC in Italy, I naturally took on a Task Force job, as IBF is where my passions for the world, its communities and the breath easily come together. Over the years I have witnessed how wholeheartedly IBF members and GIC participants have contributed to make IBF what it is today, an inspiring organisation with a magnificent mission statement, a sound constitution, a worldwide member base of breathworkers with the possibility of making a big difference in the world. There have been many challenges with such a multicultural structure, not only because of the different languages or time zones involved, but also due to the fact that breathworkers are individualistic, outspoken people, and that they are committed to fight for what they believe in.

The GIC 2010’s “Dome of light and love”, this experience of oneness, of being part of a universal consciousness is the result of all the years of dedication, enthusiasm and love put into the IBF and its GICs since its creation in 1994.
I am forever grateful for all those who were ever involved.

I believe that with GIC 2010, we have all stepped into a new paradigm, from which there is no going back. These are exiting times! Make sure you share them with us by booking yourself on GIC 2011 in Ecuador from the 24th of June to the 1st of July 2011 (www.GIC2011.com).

Brigitte Martin Powell October 1010

President of the International Breathwork Foundation (IBF) www.ibfnetwork.com
Director of the Avalon Institute of Rebirthing (AIR) www.rebirther.co.uk

Eckhart Tolle on breathwork

I've just read "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. I like it a lot, it's about living in the present and what that means. What I also value is Eckhart's approach to the ego and how to deal with it: like an opportunity rather than something bad and wrong.
ANWAY, in this great book there is a chapter on breathwork which I'm reproducing here with Eckhart's permission. Enjoy!

The Breath
Discover inner space by creating gaps in the stream of thinking. Without those gaps, your thinking becomes repetitive, uninspired, devoid of any creative spark, which is how it still is for most people on the planet. You don’t need to be concerned with the duration of those gaps. A few seconds in good enough. Gradually, they will lengthen by themselves, without any effort on your part. More important than their length is to bring them in frequently so that your daily activities and your stream of thinking become interspersed with space.
Someone recently showed me that annual prospectus of a large spiritual organisation. When I looked through it, I was impressed by the wide choice of interesting seminars and workshops. It reminded me of a smorgasbord, one of those Scandinavian buffets where you can take your pick from a huge variety of enticing dishes. The person asked me whether I could recommend one or two courses. “I don’t know,” I said. “They all look so interesting. But I do know this,” I added. “Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever your remember. Do that for one year, and it will be more powerfully Transformative than attending all of theses courses. And it’s free.”
Being aware of your breathing takes attention away from thinking and creates space. It is one way of generating consciousness. Although the fullness of consciousness is already there as the unmanifested, we are here to bring consciousness into this dimension.
Be aware of your breathing. Notice the sensation of the breath. Feel the air moving in and out of your body. Notice how the chest and abdomen expand and contract slightly with the in- and outbreath. One conscious breath is enough to make some space where before there was the uninterrupted succession of one thought after another. One conscious breath (two or three would be even better), taken many times a day, is an excellent way of bringing space into your life. Even if you meditated on your breathing for two hours or more, which some people do, one breath is all you ever need to be aware of, indeed ever can be aware of. The rest is memory or anticipation, which is to say, thought. Breathing isn’t really something that you do but something that your witness as it happens. Breathing happens by itself. The intelligence within the body is doing it. All you have to do is watch it happening. There is not strain or effort involved. Also notice the brief cessation of the breath, particularly the still point at the end of the outbreath, before you start breathing in again.
Many people’s breath is unnaturally shallow. The more you are aware of the breath, the more its natural depth will re-establish itself.
Because breath has no form as such, it has since ancient times been equated with spirit – the formless one Life. “God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.”
The German word for breathing – atmen – is derived from the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) word Atman, meaning the indwelling divine spirit or God within.
The fact that breath has no form is one of the reasons why breath awareness is an extremely effective way of bringing space into your life, of generating consciousness. It is an excellent meditation object precisely because it is not an object, has not shape or form. The other reason is that breath is one of the most subtle and seemingly insignificant phenomena, the “least thing” that according to Nietzsche makes up the “best happiness”. Whether or not you practice breath awareness as an actual meditation, however, is not substitute for bringing space consciousness into everyday life.
Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment – the key to all inner transformation. Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present. You may also notice that your cannot think and be aware of your breathing. Conscious breathing stops your mind. But far from being in a trance or half asleep, you are fully awake and highly alert. You are not falling below thinking, but rising above it. And if you look more closely, you will find that those two things – coming fully into the present moment and ceasing thinking without loss of consciousness – are actually one and the same: the arising of space consciousness.

Extract from “A NEW EARTH, Create a Better Life” (Chap. 8) from Eckhart Tolle, 2009, Penguin Books Ltd, London. (Reproduced here with permission from the author)

I am here

Hi

I want to take a moment to acknowledge Leonard Orr for developing Rebirthing.

The awareness of my breath at any moment is healing. It is just so simple.

Check it out!

Doug

Rebirthing Vocational Training

The best job around: breathworker - rebither, supporting people on their path, holding a space of possibility and safety for them to expore the most hidden and secret corners of who they really are and how to express it in this world.
The Avalon Institute of Rebirthing is opening a new vocational rebirthing training in January 2010, in Devon, UK. Available for the whole of Europe really as the course is given over 4 x 1 week module and the venue is near Exeter airport. Will be mainly in English, but could accomodate French, Spanish and German speakers.
Check it on www.rebirther.co.uk

The Global Inspiration Conference (GIC)

I call it "the accelerator of growth", it's my biggest source of inspiration, my way of experiencing global transformation in action, of having a taste of oneness. I love it and return to it year after year. It is the Global Inspiration Conference (GIC), held by the International Breathwork Foundation in a different country every year.
2010 will be in Spain from the 3rd to the 10th of July (www.gic2010.com)
2011 will be in Ecuador