Breath As A Tool in Psychotherapy
a multi-part electronic class by C. Shaffia Laue, M.D
©2002, C. Shaffia laue, M.D. All Rights Reserved.

Let me introduce myself to those who are participating in this class. I was trained as a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas and received my medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia. I have studied several forms of integrative medicine including nutrition, homeopathy, environmental medicine, Chinese herbs, electro-dermal testing (EDS), auricular medicine, bioenergy healing (Reike, Wirkus and Raphaelite), as well as meditation as an initiate in The Sufi Order International, and as a Healing Conductor within the Sufi Healing Order. Over the last twenty-two years I have integrated these aspects into my holistic psychiatry practice. I am a Shafayat in the Sufi Healing Order and a Representative in the Sufi Order International. In December, 2000 I became a founding member of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. But for all the things I have studied and been tested in my knowledge, the most basic tool with the most far reaching effects is the breath. If you will allow some humor, I want to say, "Don't leave home without it!"

Although you at first may feel that this class does not pertain to you because you are not a therapist, I would like you to reconsider, because this is as much about self healing, in fact it is only through self healing that most people are ever able to assist others in their healing. If you interact with other living beings in your life, there may be something in this class to assist you in being an integrated human.

I would like to start with a quote from Hazrat Inayat Khan:

"It is very interesting for an Eastern person to see how sometimes in the West, in their inventions, people unconsciously apply the principles of the mystical realms. They have a machine, which sweeps carpets while sucking up the dust. This is the same system inside out: the proper way of breathing sucks ups the dust from the mind and ejects it. The scientist goes as far as to say that a person exhales carbon dioxide: the bad gases are thrown out of the body by exhaling. The mystic goes further, saying it is not only from the body, but from the mind also that impurities can be removed. If one knew how, one could remove more than one could imagine. Impurities of the mind can be thrown out by the right way of breathing; that is why mystics combine breathing with posture. Posture helps the stilling of the mind and breathing helps the cleansing of the mind; these two go together."

I refer to my psychiatry practice as "bio-psycho-sacred healing". By using this label I inform people that they can expect an integration of these aspects in the work that we will do together. However, it is extremely important to me that I not put my spiritual beliefs upon anyone, so during the initial consultation I always inquire as to an individual's spiritual beliefs. Once I know their personal belief system, I can work with the language with which they are accustomed. I always start out with breath from a biochemical and medical model. I want to share this model with this class because this is important information, which is often not addressed in the spiritual classes. I start by explaining the physiology of breath and why it is important in so many physical and mental problems.

The explanation of breathing begins with an illustration of how a newborn infant breathes naturally. As they breathe in, their tummy rises up. As they breathe out they contract their abdomen and push the gases out. When an infant becomes upset or traumatized, humans are programmed through our DNA to get attention by contracting all the muscles in the abdominal area, pulling ones little hands up by the face, and producing a high pitched wail, which is realized through hyperventilation. Human adults are programmed to respond to this high-pitched cry in the same way that robins are programmed to respond to the baby birds in the nest. If the parent follows that inner guidance they will go pick up the infant to comfort them, unless culture intervenes.

In our culture we have interfered with this normal biological process to a great degree. Parents are told that their infants need to learn independence and therefore are advised to "let them cry it out". However in our period of evolution, before we lived in solid boxes, when life and survival were more tenuous, a human infant required an off switch so as not to attract untoward attention, if comfort were not immediately forthcoming. This off switch takes the form biochemically of the brain's capacity to first track oxygen level by the amount of CO2 in the blood. When the infant, or for that matter any adult human being is hyperventilating, the brain calmly says the CO2 is fine - this is not a problem. It is only with prolonged hyperventilation that the oxygen level precipitously drops and suddenly the baby faints for lack of oxygen. The creator has provided an off switch to protect the survival of this infant. When an infant feels repeatedly traumatized or unsupported, it begins to hold this tension in its abdomen all the time, and through the years, begins to reverse its breathing, so that it can hold its abdomen tight through the inhalation, and then releases it during the exhalation.

This produces a situation of a chronic hyperventilation. In the process of this chronic hyperventilation the now young child, or possibly teenager or adult has a graded hypoxia, which means a slowly decreasing low level of oxygen. If there is any minor stress added to this delicate balance, which would increase the tension and decrease the respiratory volume further, the secondary monitoring ability of the brain engages. The brain at this point perceives itself to be suffocating for lack of oxygen, and sends signals to the heart to pump faster to provide more oxygen. Of course, with this threat of decreased oxygen there is increased tension in the muscles, which further uses up oxygen availability as well as the increased heart rate causing decrease in oxygen availability. Now the brain becomes really panicked. The heart is racing, the muscles are tense, and the individual finds himself spiraling into a full-blown panic attack. This process is also fairly universal in persons suffering from depression, although they may not experience the full-blown panic attack. They often have a low level of oxygen. Oxygen is an important ingredient for the manufacture of neurotransmitters, and I often tell my patients that it is not from lack of Prozac in their diet that they are depressed, but rather a lack of oxygen and nutritional building blocks to make neurotransmitters.

One of the first tools I supply for every person who consults with me is the suggestion that they begin to work on breathing abdominally. Since many patients do have symptoms of depression, and/or anxiety, whether or not that is their primary complaint, I usually have their attention at this point. For this first class I would ask you to make it a practice of being present to you breath several times a day. This is like the 2-minute practices in Raphaelite work. Sitting at you desk between phone calls, sitting at a red light, waiting for your child to get in the car, waiting for your spouse to walk out the door with you, waiting for the elevator, walking to the parking lot, you get the idea. I'm not asking for a huge amount of time. I am asking you several times a day to check in with your breath, is it shallow? Are you holding tension? Could you take a moment to adjust your breath, engage your diaphragm and fill your lungs completely. Being present to your breath is your first assignment, you may be surprised at what you find!

One of the first tools I supply for every person who consults with me is the suggestion that they begin to work on breathing abdominally. Since many patients do have symptoms of depression, and/or anxiety, whether or not that is their primary complaint, I usually have their attention at this point. I like to begin with some guided imagery in which I do a progressive relaxation, which comes again from a very medical model. Then I move to their place of peace and having taken the spiritual history, I will use words from their belief system to weave into the imagery to begin to connect them with spirit. Anyone who has done the purification breaths of Hazrat Inayat Khan will find these elements hidden in the imagery, you are free to add to this for your own practices since there are many aspects to the purification breaths and I have by no means covered them all.

I like to use the mind's eye of the imagination because I want to develop the imagination. Olympic athletes who have done up to 50% of their training in imagery perform better in the field than those who have done all of their training in the field, and so I encourage people to develop this capacity of the mind to image, to imagine. This is a modern day application of spiritual teachings to which people can easily relate. The spiritual reasons for development of imagination and how this development can be an extremely useful tool in assisting a person to a greater feeling of well being are hidden behind the reasoning of present applications. Here we turn to the teachings of Murshid: "There is a saying in the East that there is one illness for which there is no remedy, and that illness is called Vahrn, which means imagination. In every illness the imagination plays its role. The greater the imagination, the greater becomes that illness. But apart from illness, in every little thing in life imagination makes mischief, exaggerates it, and makes it more difficult to bear. It is not seldom but often that one sees a person feeling tired before he has worked, at the very thought of the work. When working, that tiredness which was imagined before increases still more and before the work is finished the person is exhausted. One will often see that the head of a factory is more tired after two hours' work than the workman who has perhaps worked all day long with the engines; a superintendent of a garden becomes much more tired than the gardener who has been working on the soil all day long. Often a person in the audience becomes much more tired than the singer who has sung the whole program of the evening. And before having walked so many miles a person may have become tired at the thought of it. Imagination always leads, illness follows. Imagination is an automatic working of the mind. One can train imagination by training thought. We must make thoughts out of imaginations. There comes a development of mind which shows itself just like the muscular development of the physical body, for each muscle is distinct when a person exercises his body; and so every thought becomes distinct and clear before it is expressed. In that way imagination is developed and trained."

As I work to facilitate healing by giving the individual a distinct purpose and a function in developing their imagination, and then along the way we develop this tool. In different sessions we may go back to the imagery and refine it and increase the detail, and use the place of peace for developing more complex tools in healing. Then we begin to imagine the person as they see themselves becoming. So it becomes a greater reality through their exercising the thoughts of their imagination.

I would like to lead you through the experience of this progressive relaxation and imagery to allow you to experience how I integrate this information. Then I will give you a more detailed commentary on particular elements of the guided imagery.

We begin this practice with the instruction to get as comfortable as possible, close your eyes, and begin to be aware of your breathing. Be aware of your breath coming in and the abdomen rising up as you breathe in. You may put your hand on your abdomen to give you some additional feedback as to how you are doing. As you exhale your abdomen contracts, pushes the diaphragm up, and pushes the air out of the lungs. When you contract these muscles to completely expel the air from the lungs as completely as possible, it is beneficial because then one has a greater respiratory volume on the inhalation. With the next inhalation again, you feel the hand rise up, the diaphragm drop and the muscles in the abdomen relax. Actually it is the active part of breathing to contract the muscles and to push the air out. Breathing in is passive and a process of relaxing the muscles, and allowing the atmospheric pressure to move the air into the lungs. Find a rate that is comfortable for you, and the key word here is comfortable. We are looking for a balanced rhythm, so become aware of breathing in for a count of three, and exhaling for a count of three. I know there are many practices which have you breath in different patterns, but I want to start with balance, so I ask for just a simple, balanced breath. Breathing in a count of three, breathing out for a count of three. If one can develop this process to the point where one is breathing in a slow count of five and breathing out a slow count of five, one is only taking 10 breaths per minute. If one can do that and feel comfortable, it is very difficult to retain tension, and do this process. When you have that rhythm in place, move your awareness down into your feet and your ankles. Become aware of any tension that you are holding there. Breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your feet relax. In your mind's eye, imagine what it would feel like to tense your feet and your ankles. With the next exhalation, breathe that tension out. Let it go. Feel your feet relax.

Now move your awareness into your legs, your knees, and your thighs. Become aware of any tension that you are holding there. Breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your legs relax. In your mind's eye, imagine what it would feel like to tense your legs, and then with the next exhalation breath it out like the wind blowing the leaves along the gutter in the fall. Feel your breath move that tension down your legs, and out the bottoms of your feet. Now move your awareness up into your hips, your abdomen, and your lower back. Become aware of any tension that you are holding there, and with the next exhalation breath it out. Let it go. Feel your hips release that tension and sink into the surface underneath you. In your mind's eye imagine what it would feel like to tense this area of your body, and again with the next exhalation breath it out. Let it go. Feel your body relax. Now move your awareness up into your chest, your rib cage, your lungs, and your heart. Become aware of any tension that you are holding there. Then breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your whole chest area relax. In your mind's eye imagine what it would be like to tense this area of your body, and with the next exhalation breath it out. Let it go. Like the sun melting the snow in the early spring, feel that tension melt away from your chest and disappear into the ground beneath you. Each breath becomes more relaxed, deeper, easier. Move your awareness into your arms, your hands, and your elbows. Become aware of any tension that you are holding there. Breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your hands, and your arms relax. In your mind's eye imagine what it would feel like to tense this area of your body, and with the next exhalation breath it out. Let it go. Feel your arms and hands completely relax. Move your awareness up into your shoulders, your neck, and your upper back. Become aware of any tension that you are holding here. Breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your shoulders, your neck relax. In your mind's eye imagine what it would feel like to tense this area and again with the next exhalation breath it out. Let it go. Feel your shoulders become more and more relaxed.

When you do this at home you may want to spend some extra time on your shoulders since this is an area where many people hold extra tension. Now move your awareness to your face, your jaw, your forehead, all the little muscles around your eyes, your scalp, and your ears. Become aware of any tension that you are holding in this area. Breathe it out. Let it go. Feel your whole face and head relax. In your mind's eye imagine what it would feel like to tense this area of your body, and as you breath it out, imagine the wind that dissipates the fog in the early morning, blowing away the fog in your brain. With each breath you can see more clearly where you are going, what your goals are, the path that you will travel to achieve those goals. With each breath you see more and more clearly. You feel more and more strength in your capacity to travel this path.

Now I would like you to take yourself in your mind's eye to your place of peace. This can be any place out in nature; the mountains the beach, the forest, the prairie, by a stream, by a lake; wherever you chose. The important thing is that it is a place where you feel safe and comfortable; that you know this is your place of peace and that you are in total control here. If I say anything that you do not agree with, you are free to discard my words. Feel yourself connecting with Mother Earth through your feet. Mother Earth is the best recycler and she has taught us so much information about recycling. She has taught us everything we know. One of the most important things is that we can take stinking, rotten garbage from our life, and place it under the proper conditions called a compost pile, and Mother Earth will do her fabulous alchemical process and change this garbage into brown, fluffy, sweet smelling compost. We can then use this compost to fertilize the flowers in the garden of our life. Feel your feet connect with Mother Earth. In the same way that when we look at the planet Earth, and we see the lines go between the North Pole and the South Pole, each of us as an individual human being has these same energy lines around us, this magnetism. Breathe in the magnetism from Mother Earth. Feel her energy move through your body as you breathe out through your feet. Breathe out any polluted magnetism, any garbage you are ready to let go, and only that which you are truly ready to let go at this time. Look at the surroundings that you have created. The beauty of nature, and the plants that you see around you. Know that each of them breaths in this energy through their roots from Mother Earth, and that we too can breathe in this energy. Feel it revitalize you.

In the Native American tradition they talk about Mother Earth, and Father Sky or Father Sun. Feel the Sun overhead, just the perfect temperature. Breathe in those rays of light through the top of your head. Now the sun and light are a metaphor for spirit in many of the world's traditions. In the Christian tradition we think of the Sun as a symbol for Christ, being the Son of God, and the Light of the World. In the Jewish tradition there is the celebration of Hanukkah, where the miracle of light lasted for eight days in the cold, dark time of the year. In the Islamic tradition there is a statement in the Koran that the lamps are many, but the light is one. In the Hindu tradition there is a celebration of Diwali in October/ or November which is the festival of light. Feel the light of the sun on the top of your head. Feel its warmth. Breathe it in, like a golden balm. Each time you breath in there is more. Feel it flow over your brain and as you breathe in more, there's more that flows down your throat, and fills your lungs with that golden light. It feels very warm and healing. It flows down into your abdomen, where it swirls together with the energy from Mother Earth, like a ying/yang symbol, breathing together spirit and matter. Because as much as you are a physical being, you are also a spiritual being.

This is hidden in our language. The word inspire comes from the Latin root "in spirit." When we breathe in air we breath in spirit. When we are inspired, we are filled with spirit. The word expire comes from the Latin root "out spirit." When we breathe out air, we breathe out spirit. When we are expired, spirit has left the body and gone home. So we need to nurture and feed our spiritual body, and breath in this energy, which can also be called prana or chi or ruh, depending on the language that you speak. This spirit is truly your divine inheritance and it has been here for you all this time. It is like having an inheritance from the bank that nobody told you was there. Once you know it's there you can go make withdrawals anytime. It's better than an ATM machine, because all you have to do is connect with your breath and breathe in, and spirit is there for you to energize you, to heal you, to comfort you. Spirit is as close as our breath. As Khabir says, "It is the breath inside the breath."

As you become more and more aware of the subtle details in your place of peace, you become aware of the gentle breeze that's blowing through the plants and the trees that surround you. Feel the wind assist you in releasing any toxins or garbage in your physical body or in your energy field. As you feel this release you can feel the subtlety of the wind, the breeze moving through those very tiny spaces between the molecules and atoms of your physical body, clearing away the smallest particles of polluted magnetism. As you breathe out you feel the wonderful capacity of the subtle breeze to facilitate your release of any negative energy. As you release more and more heaviness and tension, you realize that you are becoming very light, and the breeze can begin to lift you upwards. Make sure that like a kite on a breezy, spring day, you are firmly tethered by that string to the ground below as you rise up into the sky. You can look down at the situation with which you were previously struggling and see it from an entirely different point of view. You can see a much broader picture, now you can see aspects of the big picture that were unavailable to you from your former perspective. As your view of the situation expands the range of your choices and options to respond also expands. You discover options that you had not previously considered. As you discover new possibilities for potential actions you also discover latent possibilities within your own personality. In the same way that you have created your place of peace, you are creating the person you desire to become.

Now I ask you to come back to your place of peace at least twice a day, to review this imagery, to connect with spirit. Know that you are in total control here. You can come as often as you like, stay as long as you want, and then I ask you at this time to gently bring yourself back to my office or in our case, back to the meditation hall, and feel completely restored to your outer personality. Now the next thing I mention to my clients is that cats and dogs are very, very smart, and they always stretch after they have been relaxed, and so I encourage people to stretch, and reconnect with their bodies at this point. As you are coming back into your body I would like to share a commentary on the imagery that was used.

First, when working with an individual, I always explore the place of peace before we do this together, so that we can develop the place of peace very specifically and bring this imagery to mind. I prefer to use a place in nature even if it's a mythical place because Divine presence is so tangible in nature. My intention is to connect them with spirit through the breath, but also assist feeling very intensely and positively, the experience of Divine presence. Through this process they not only learn that they can control their physiology, their level of anxiety, their muscle tension, their blood flow, and their heart rate, but they also learn that they have some control over the feelings of abandonment when they can connect very clearly with their thought and their breath with the Being of Divine Spirit.

Hazrat Inayat Khan identifies this healing aspect of nature:

"Besides this there is another way of looking at this question. Every illness apparently has its peculiar reason, but in reality all illnesses come from one reason; from one reason, or cause, or condition, which is absence of life, the lack of life. Life is health; its absence is illness, which culminates in what we call death.

Life in its physical form, as perceived throughout the physical spheres, is called prana in Sanskrit. This life is given by food or medicine - or the body is prepared by a certain food or medicine to be able to breathe in this life itself, in order that it may be in better health, that it may experience perfect health. But this prana, which means breath - the central breath - attracts from space all the different elements which are there, as the herbs, plants, flowers, and fruits all attract from space the same element which they represent. All these elements are attracted by the breath. Therefore the great mystics, whether from Greece, Persia, or India, always had the culture of breath, the science of breath as their basis of spiritual evolution, and the source of all healing was the science of breath. Even now you will see in the East healers who magnetize water, or food, or the atmosphere. Where lies the secret of this magnetism? It is in their breath. It is the influence of their breath which is in the water or the food."

Here Murshid reiterates the essence of life in nature which can be felt most profoundly in nature, and that's why I insist on the imagery taking place in nature if at all possible, so that we can capitalize on this unconscious memory of prana in the natural world.

I focus on the healing light of the sun for several reasons. For Christians there is this strong identification with Christ, and that capacity to breath in that healing power, but in the teachings of Murshid we find other reasons to focus on the healing power embodied in the sun. "There are germs and impurities, but there are also elements to purify them. Those five elements, earth, water, fire, air, and ether, as spoken of by the mystics, do not only compose germs, but can also destroy them, if one only knew how one could make use of those five elements to purify one's body with them and also one's mind. As there is need of sun and water for plants to grow, so there is need of the five elements for a person to keep in perfect health. These five elements he breathes according to his capacity of breath. But by breath every person does not attract the same properties; for everyone attracts from the breath elements according to his particular constitution. One attracts more fire element in his breath, another more water element, and a third attracts more earth element. Sometimes one receives an element which one does not require. Besides, the sun currents have a greater healing power than anything else.

A person who knows how to breathe perfectly, who is attracting sun currents into his body, can keep the body free from every kind of impurity. No microbes of destruction can exist if the sun currents can touch every part of the body, which is within, and that is done by the breath. The places of the earth which are hidden from the sun, which are not touched by the air, become damp; several little lives are created there, germs of destruction are born, and the air in that place becomes dense. If this is true, then the body also needs the sun and air. The lungs, intestines, and veins and tubes of the body all need the sun and the air; and these are taken in by means of perfect breathing; and even the mind derives benefit from this. For the mind too is composed of five elements, the elements in their finest condition."

In addition to his words "the sun currents have a greater healing power than anything else," there is this aspect of light being important in all the major world's religions. Most people who come for assistance are living in the shadows and need to find a way to reconnect with the essence of light in their world. In our co-creating we simply need to find the words to begin to image this light to make this light a reality for all. We attempt to make the light a living presence in their life, so that it can be a dynamic force as they become more aware of the light of spirit which is within their own heart and being.

Since I am a psychotherapist by training one might ask why I do not focus on other aspects or interventions, and why I see the breath as critical, to be the primary intervention. I use the biological explanations for breathing because people can see the validity in that as a biological and biochemical model for the symptoms they are experiencing. However, since we know that all true healing comes through spirit, to me it is imperative to find a way to engage their capacity to engage spirit, as the first focus of any healing intervention. Again, Murshid addresses this aspect: "The breath is the principal power needed in healing. All the various manifestations of the magnetic current which come from the tips of the fingers, from the glance, and from the pores of the skin are indirect manifestations of the breath. It is the strength of the breath which gives magnetic power in all its different aspects. Weakness of breath causes weakness of mind and body, and strength of breath is strength to both. One cannot lack energy and magnetism if one's breath is full of energy. Therefore before developing any other means of healing the power of the breath should first be developed."

I take this advice very seriously because I totally agree with what Murshid advises here, and so I find a way without a lot of spiritual terminology to use the biological aspects of the breath to make it important to them. This is especially true when I have someone who is trying to get off of psychopharmacological substances. They are upset generally by the side effects and wish to regain more control of their own life. The breath and developing the power of the breath has no negative side effects that I have been able to ascertain, and hence becomes the perfect medicine for healing.

Along these lines, in my initial instructions, I have advised people to find a simple balanced breath, to begin by breathing in to a slow count of three, and breathing out the same count of three, to find a balance in their breath. Again, this is pursued because of the wisdom found in the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

"A weak breath is susceptible to all contagious diseases, and a healer with weak breath could get the disease from his subject in one healing. Therefore, the power of breath is the most essential thing before one would attempt to heal. Power of breath can be developed in two forms, volume and length, which make it intensive and extensive. It is dangerous to try healing before one is fully sure of the power of breath in both ways. The development of the power of the breath is felt and one knows when one is ready to use it in healing.

The development of healing power depends upon the development of the breath. The breath can be developed by purification, by extension, by expansion, and by rhythm. There are three different kinds of rhythm in the breath: the rhythm which cannot be distinguished in the continuation of aspiration and expiration; the second kind, the rhythm that can be distinguished by the two distinct swings of inhaling and exhaling; the third rhythm, evenness in breathing. Those who have not mastered their breath are under the influence of these three rhythms, their health, their mood, and their condition in life. But those who master the breath, can put their breath in any of these rhythms and when mastery is acquired, then the healer has the key to wind any clock."

Although this quote refers to the development of breath in the healer, for any person, wishing to heal themselves this information is equally important. A person who is weak in the breath is vulnerable in the breath, and is susceptible to taking on many things because of the lack of strength in their breath. Therefore to help people decrease their vulnerability and to increase their vitality, it is extremely important to develop the rhythm of the breath to find this simple, basic rhythm. I hope you will find time to apply these practices in your life over the next week. Pretty words on a page are just that, words. It get results one must attune the mind and body, orienting them to resonate with spirit.

How does one allow ones heart to be open to the suffering of others without getting caught in the miasma, the swamp of suffering? The teachings suggest that development of the breath can give exemplary protection. This quote from HIK gives further illumination to this process. "Breath is the principal and essential power that can help in healing. There is a silent healing and a healing by focusing the glance, by holding the painful part with the fingers, by rubbing it, by waving the hand over the painful part, by touching and by not touching it; but behind these different ways there is one power working, and that is the power of the breath. This power can be developed by breathing practices, and when the breath is so developed that it creates an atmosphere around the healer, then the very presence of the healer heals. The power of the breath can be developed by physical exercises, by rhythmic exercises of the breath, by pure living and by concentration."

In the past two lessons we have been utilizing his recommendations and used physical exercises, rhythmic exercises, pure living and concentration, if you have been doing the practices rather than just reading them. Now a practice I find useful in creating a healing atmosphere is the use of the wazaif, Ya Shaffee, Ya Kaffee. Ya Shaffee, is often translated as "God is the Healer," however, one Arabic student suggested the translation, "God is the mediator especially in healing." Either way, it is Divine Presence that moves through us when we make ourselves that channel for that flow of essence. Ya Kaffee is often translated as, "God is the remedy," but again a more precise translation is "God is all sufficient." Every person who has participated in the Sufi Healing Circle has utilized this practice to be a channel for healing. That is one use. However, it is a wonderful practice for developing ones atmosphere, and for creating an atmosphere that is healing. Now there are several details to be aware of here. First we are not using this to force healing onto someone else. When we are open to the suffering of others it is sometimes hard not to "do something" to "fix" it. We must allow for individual choices and free will, even when we can see where the choices are going in what we feel to be a negative direction. Maintaining the intention that "the highest spiritual good be served," is a way to allow for self-determination and maintain our own atmosphere. The image that helps me with this focus is that of an artesian well that draws from a very deep source. It feeds the spring that runs into a muddy farm pond. The spring does not get cloudy but always runs clear because it draws from its deep source. The muddy farm pond is the suffering that we open ourselves towards, and the well is our deep source of calm and clear presence, which allows our atmosphere to be maintained when life gets muddled around us. So we are not creating this atmosphere to fix someone else, but to maintain our connectedness with spirit.

A teacher once told me that we should never use Shaffee, Kaffee on our breath while healing because we are imposing something on the healee. I have thought about this in great detail and I agree that we are not there to "force" healing upon the healee, and it should not be done with that intention. Whether we like it or not, however, our atmosphere will impose something on the healing session. Would it not be better if we concentrate on having a healing atmosphere while we are being present to their suffering? People loved to be in the presence of Murshid directly because he had a healing atmosphere. If we ignore the development of our atmosphere, then we bring numerous untoward energies to every situation in our every day life. When we meditate and say the words Ya Shaffee, Ya Kaffee out loud it is called a Zikr. On this subject HIK said, "In Zikr, one may become able to arrange the atoms in order and rhythm and harmony. When mureeds chant in groups, they often magnify the power of the atoms. Often this brings the same effect as the presence of the teacher, but generally Zikr awakens the soul so as to produce alertness or even ecstasy. In Zikr, the thought is kept on all the syllables and sounds, making it difficult to think of anything else. S When this is accomplished, one becomes attuned to the spiritual souls higher in evolution, becomes awakened to impressions, and may even arise to that state when the separateness between heart and heart disappears in the realization of Zikr. So Zikr may be called the finest thought expressed in the finest material form with the highest spiritual purpose. It becomes the perfection of the sounds uttered by the tongue."

When we take the practice to a more internal level and repeat it on the breath breathing in Shaffee, breathing out Kaffee the practice in now called a fikr. In this silent practice on the breath the "Ya" is dropped. When developing my atmosphere, I breath in Shaffee through the top of my head feeling the light of Divine Presence, which manifests as a mediator especially in healing, fill my being with Divine Light. As I exhale Kaffee I feel this light radiate out in all directions filling my auric or energy field with Divine Presence. We cannot heal either others or ourselves with our ego, but only if we get out of the way and allow Soul Presence and Soul Radiance, which are perfectly attuned to, Divine Presence and Light manifest through us. I want to share with you what Murshid said about the practice of fikr. "Every meditation is a Fikr when rightly performed. In meditation, heart and mind are centered upon God, and this is true in Fikr also. Only, in Fikr one is given special syllables or a special form, which is absent in general meditation. Yet Fikr can be called an intensification of the highest meditation, keeping the heart fixed on God. Meditation consists of preparation, performance, and application, which means action. So the true meditation is not separate from the rest of life. This is especially true when one gains power and magnetism through meditation, to be applied in healing or other spiritual work. In meditation there are two general results: the development of the faculty of insight, and the growth of the personal atmosphere. Once this atmosphere is built, Fikr becomes a natural performance, and as is said in Salat, at every moment of our life we draw closer to God. Through this surrender of self, through keeping the gaze and concentration steadfast on God, all becomes natural, and it is the most natural thing in life to be ever aware and responsive to God."

So in these instructions we are told that the practices are not separate from the rest of life, but with continual practice every breath will draw us closer to God. As we strive towards a luminous identification with God, it is our intention and continued practice that carries us forward. This past August at the retreat camp in California Pir Zia outlined four stages of Zikr:

1) Recite Zikr with the tongue, but the mind wanders and the heart is not present.

2) Recite Zikr with tongue and sometimes mind and heart become engaged.

3) Recite Zikr with tongue and mind and heart are perfectly attuned to the practice.

4) No longer doing the practice with the tongue, yet one has internalized the zikr and the heart continues it.

Using this practice to build one's atmosphere can assist one in becoming open without suffering the pain of others. Work with this practice during your mediation alone and on the breath at various moments through out the day, restoring and rejuvenating your atmosphere when you feel your energy waning. I would like to close this session with one last quote from Murshid. "It is often difficult to keep the mind in condition during some breathing exercise. In the purification breaths, it is not enough to keep the mind on the syllables Ya Shaffee-Ya Kaffee. At first, the thought will bring strength and purity, but the advancing Talib [student] should ever bear in mind that this practice and all practices are means of uniting the soul to God. God is the healer, and the practice is His medicine which is used to heal and purify His vehicle so he may occupy and use it."

Although the title of this class is using breath in psychotherapy, I want to make it clear that I do not give out the wazaif to clients. In the same way today's class is more in the light of personal growth but can also be modified for use with clients. I will address my comments today towards the mureed working with breath for self-healing and purification. We finished the last class with a quote from Hazrat Inayat Khan that bears repeating and I wish to build on what we have examined and experienced so far in our time together. "It is often difficult to keep the mind in condition during some breathing exercise. In the purification breaths, it is not enough to keep the mind on the syllables Ya Shaffee-Ya Kaffee. At first, the thought will bring strength and purity, but the advancing Talib [student] should ever bear in mind that this practice and all practices are means of uniting the soul to God. God is the healer, and the practice is His medicine which is used to heal and purify His vehicle so he may occupy and use it."

If a child is born in the image of God and in a state of purity, what has happened that requires this necessary practice to heal and purify "His vehicle so he may occupy and use it"? In Raphaelite work we talk about our natural tone, which to me is that purity in the Being of God. Natural tone can be restored by the flow of Essence, or Divine Presence. When this flow becomes blocked in our lives by insults and trauma occurring in the environment, we become cut off from our Divine inheritance, which is to be living continually surrounded by and infused with Soul Presence and Soul Radiance, the manifestation of Divine Presence through an individual human. When we have experienced some trauma, we either "lock it into our muscles", or find another way to "armor" ourselves against a perceived attack. When we make an effort to relax and be present to our five bodies: Physical, Emotional, Mental, Moral and Spiritual, our bodies get the message that we are finally going to take the necessary actions to address the trauma and its effect on our five bodies.

In the Raphaelite Work we also call these areas that need to be addressed "compensatory structures" and "felt insufficiencies." The terms are very self-explanatory. A compensatory structure is the "armoring" or walling off of a perceived trauma, a way of coping to get through a rough time without sufficient support from the environment. It is a form or structure that we created when threatened with the terror of abandonment as a child. This structure could be compared to a scaffolding that is compensating for the support one didn't receive from the environment. A felt insufficiency is when we have felt the universe mirroring back to us that we are inadequate, that we deserve to be treated with disrespect and be abandoned and that it is our own fault. The form of a felt insufficiency is always looking outside to fill up the emptiness inside oneself.

These structures are there for a purpose, to help us survive and that is a very positive intention, to survive, to protect us from the insult of the environment. Again in the Raphaelite Work we discuss how the key that locks the door is also the key that unlocks it and so we need to examine these structures, and not be too quick to throw anything away. Energy cannot be created or destroyed according to some scientists, and it is important that nothing here is lost or thrown away. But these structures with a positive intention at the time of creation now block the flow of essence and cripple us in realizing our eternal self. We instead become stuck in our "historical self" and believe that what the physical world reflected back to us in a fun house mirror is who we really are. HIK discusses the nature of form and how it is created by our projections. What we believe ourselves to be is a projection from the environment that we have accepted and continued to nurture, until such time when the light of the soul breaks through what has been projected onto it. He first addresses the form of that which is unseen by our physical eyes.

"The question arises: do angels have a form, a face? This question is very difficult to answer in words. The reason is that every being and object that has a name has a form or a face; but we are accustomed to give a name to something only when we can distinguish a form; and what our eyes cannot see we do not call a form. One might as well ask whether our imaginations have faces. Our imaginations have the faces we give them and by which we distinguish the one from the other; our feelings too have the faces that we give them, and these faces distinguish one feeling from another feeling. However, the face of an angel is not so concrete as this physical form of ours which we call our self, 'I'; but in order to conceive, to picture, the form or the face of an angel, one needs to become an angel oneself. We are accustomed to consider every form like our own; therefore, when we picture angels, fairies, or ghosts, we picture them like ourselves. The fairies of the Chinese have Chinese features, the fairies of the Russians wear Russian hats. The form we imagine covers the angelic form.

Every atom of manifestation can be said to have a soul, because all manifestation has come from the heavenly source, the divine spheres; so every atom comes from that source and cannot exist without that heavenly radiance. Every atom has radiance, even those of dust; we see this because it has light in it. It is its own light which shows it to us, and that light is its soul. Much that seems to us devoid of intelligence is not so in reality; only the intelligence is buried in the heart; it has projected itself and it has been buried by what it has projected; one day, however, it must emerge."

What I interpret from this quote is that it is the light of the soul in its radiance which dispels the form we have given to our imaginations and feelings. The form of the compensatory structures, which were created to help us survive an early trauma, have taken on a form and life and buried the light of intelligence with what has been projected. In our practices this month, we have worked with the breath to develop awareness of our physical sensations, to develop our place of peace where we can connect with Divine Essence and develop our atmosphere. We are aware that when we are still and quiet, the forms, which are not part of our enduring, eternal form, surface and surrender themselves to us for purification and healing. The compensatory structures and felt insufficiencies can take many different forms and be illusive and distracting to the student on the spiritual path.

Obsessive thoughts can clutter our mind, and sometimes these thoughts are precisely what is asking to be purified. A common "felt insufficiency" on the spiritual path is feeling deeply unworthy of hosting the presence of Divinity. Other examples of compensatory structures and felt insufficiencies that can occur on the spiritual path in particular include: I can't go on retreat because I can't sit still. I can't do a group retreat because the other people fidget and distract me. Nobody really cares about me. I can do this yoga posture better than anyone in the class. I can't do this asana as well as anyone else, I'm a failure. I can make this wazaif sound perfect, I am a superior student. I always feel good after class, but my life is too busy to bother with it. I don't need a guide, they don't know anything more than I do. I don't want to work with him/her because they are (fill in the blank). My classes are so good, why doesn't anyone come to them? My classes are so good, that's why so many people come to them. The leader's never have problems like the rest of us. I don't want that person to be on a committee, they are too hard to work with. Practices are just a distraction from the real work of helping other people. Fundamentalist Christians (fill in religion of your choice) are so rigid, why can't everyone think like me.

We can attempt what Pir Vilayat calls a spiritual bypass, using practices to distract ourselves from these thoughts, however, without addressing the "cause behind the cause", we will be continually haunted by these forms until the power of radiant light can transform the energy of the form into essence. How can we see clearly what needs to happen? Again we refer to HIK: "Occult power is the power of knowing or seeing, the faculty of knowing or seeing. The seer is the greatest of these aspects, the second is that which is seen (appears), the seeing power is the third. The reason of this is that the seer is the source and origin of what is seen and of the seeing power. Therefore, Jesus Christ called Him "Father." That which is seen has in it the light inherited from the seer. Whether flower or fruit, it has radiance in it which makes it appear. There is a verse of a Persian poet which explains this: "The nightingale has borrowed from Thee his beautiful song, and the rose has borrowed from Thee its color and fragrance." But the means that the seer takes as his instrument is the mind, which is the instrument of the soul, and the body, the instrument of the mind.

Therefore the first lesson the mystic has to learn is to know the relation between himself and the thing he sees. As soon as a mystic sees life from this point of view, that he connects himself with the thing he sees, he can understand it much better than the average person. Sufism is not a religion, because it does not give any doctrine or principle, but it is a point of view. The ancient Vedantists adopted this point of view in teaching the sacred words Tat Twam Asi: "As Thou art, so I am." With this point of view, when the sight becomes keen, even objects become clear to the seer and speak to him, and what is called psychometry, or such phenomena, become as a play to the seer. The whole life begins to unfold before him like an open book. But there is nothing so interesting for the seer to see or know as human nature, and it is the seer who can see and know another person.

When we attempt to adopt this point of view, "As Thou art, so I am," we begin to use our body as the instrument of the mind and the mind as the instrument of the soul to see from the source of Divine Intelligence or Essence. There we find ourselves "fence sitting," we wish to adopt this point of view, yet we don't feel ourselves worthy of this point of view. How do we break through this conundrum without getting caught in the "bypass?" By use of the will and the breath and the body as the instrument of the mind, to clear away the heaviness which has descended upon us through the form of the felt insufficiency. This heaviness penetrates through our five bodies and makes the world appear hopeless. The heart is our organ of perception in the spiritual realms. Murshid ties these thoughts together with these words: "The same misconception exists among those who believe that the heart feels. The heart, being the center of the body, partakes of the effect of the feeling from within--which is the real heart, not the piece of flesh--and it feels suffocated and oppressed. Depression is felt as a heavy load upon the breast; and when the heavy vibrations are cleared, then especially a person has a feeling of joy and his heart is lighter than usual. This explains the Shaqq-i sadr, the opening of Mohammed['s] breast by the angels, when fear, gloom, bitterness, and conceit were all cleared away before the manifestation of divine revelation. It is as the darkness clearing away at the rising of the sun.

As the brain is the instrument of the mind which is invisible, and the heart of flesh is the vehicle of the heart within which is above substance, so it is the illumination of the soul, our invisible being, whose light is reflected within this physical body. When active it beams through the eyes, through the radiance of the countenance, charging the whole environment with a magnetic atmosphere. This light being originated from sound, both light and sound echo in the dome of the temple of this physical body, though neither in reality belongs to it. To the Sufi, the seeker of the self within, they are vouchsafed when he has control over the gateways of this holy temple, the physical body. Then, instead of reflecting outward through the expression, the light and sound both manifest within."

Using the "illumination of the soul, our invisible being," we can begin to clear the darkness of the forms of the felt insufficiencies. Just as we charged and magnetized our atmosphere with Divine Presence in the use of Shaffee, Kaffee, so we have begun to charge the whole environment with a magnetic atmosphere, when it "beams through the eyes, through the radiance of the countenance." Having built a sacred space where the shrapnel of life is free to reveal itself and show its form, it is now the test of the will to continue to focus on our experience of this radiant atmosphere to reveal that, which has been hidden all along. There is a sura in the Koran that is often translated as God speaking, "I was a hidden treasure and desired to be known." It is the spiritual work of each individual on the path to assist God in becoming, "known." By using our will to direct our body which is an instrument of the mind to allow the mind to be an instrument of the soul and focus our will on the Light of Soul in the third eye, through the brow chakra, burning away with divine fire the illusion of unworthiness. Return to this practice whenever the felt insufficiency with which you have chosen to work appears. This is a practice of the breath, which can be done at any time in any place. When you have worked with the breath in the isolation of the meditation space, there comes a time when it becomes a part of your daily Being. As in the last class when we discussed the forth stage of zikr, which is continued without conscious thought, one needs to move the practice into everyday life. So every time a thought of unworthiness begins to surface, one remembers to turn to the breath and invoke Soul Light through the third eye, feeling Soul Presence and Soul Radiance fill your entire auric field. As you continue to invoke this practice, not once or twice but repeatedly over several months you may find yourself aligning your will with Divine Will and that you have found your way through the darkness to the point of view, "As Thou art, so I am."

In this time of fear and thoughts of revenge and attack it is so easy for an open heart that is not grounded in Soul Light to become overwhelmed by the swirling forces of darkness. It reminds me of the book title You Can't afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought. We are not rich enough at this time to spend our energy entertaining negative, vindictive thoughts. We are at a point where everyone who is capable needs to align their will to manifest the sacred here on earth. To use our will and our breath and our practices as a means of "uniting the soul to God.," and purifying the forms which distort the light of "His vehicle so he may occupy and use it." I thank you for this opportunity to share with you and ask if there are comments to dialogue with the group. I will be answering Michael's question shortly, but decided that what I had to say followed better after this lesson and can be better used in a clinical setting. Thank you for your patience, I know these lessons have been long, but hopefully worth the time you have put into them. I hope that you will continue to work with these ideas and if questions arise, you will post them here at the Healing list serve.

Khatum Thou, Who art the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, The Lord of heaven and earth, open our hearts, that we may hear Thy Voice, Which constantly cometh from within. Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we may know and understand life better. Most Merciful and Compassionate God, Give us Thy great Goodness, teach us Thy Loving Forgiveness, Raise us above the distinctions and differences which divide us, Send us the Peace of Thy Divine Spirit , and unite us all in Thy Perfect Being.