"...working with breathing is essential when developing sensation;...Body work that is disconnected from breathing loses impact and control of breathing becomes a secondary defense that undermines change."
There is an awful lot to digest in that one sentence, but he continues...
"Sensation does not require particularly deep or laborious breathing for its support, or any great 'charge' (unless the sensations are highly charged, such as fear or anger). What it does require is continuous and regular inhalation and exhalation, without which the body becomes frozen and awareness of bodily events is minimized. If you carefully observe a person's breathing, you will notice that when breathing stops momentarily, the whole body stiffens slightly, and the content of conversation become more intellectual, with little background feeling. Without the background to bodily sensation, the figures that form and emerge in speech are unrelated to the presently felt reality; they are abstract cool and partial. We keep our disowned feelings from contributing to emerging awareness by deadening our feeling body through minimal breathing."
Perhaps, there is nothing new here, but I always appreciate Kepner's voice. As a somatic psychologist he brings a unique perspective that often makes seemingly old information new again. In particular, his link between breathing and sensation is most insightful. Breathing keeps us in touch with a host of bodily sensations that manifest themselves in chemical, neurological and endocrine changes associated with qualities, patterns, moods, and structures that form the physical machinery of feeling and thinking. His discussion of the important role that background feelings play in the speaking process reflects a deep understanding of how the mind and the body contribute to the meaning making process. When working with the breath, it is always important to "keep it moving."
