The Breath of Life

The Breath of Life

The Breath of Life — one of my absolute favourite philosophies in the teachings of Biodynamics and something that when touched upon, changes everything in a session. While BCST is informed by theoretical and practical application and training involves precise scientific and anatomical study of the body, we also acknowledge and give space to the mystery and beauty of life as lived in a human body. This orientation fills so much of the room in a treatment and shapes my personal practice as a therapist.

To understand the Breath of Life is a felt experience, so to try and explain it can be difficult. As new practitioner, it’s something that I am inviting into my practice and slowly beginning to work with more and more. However, I know that the years I’ve spent before becoming a BCST practitioner—training in various modalities and lineages to refine my body and mind to hone their natural sensitivity—allowed me to immediately recognise and resonate with this concept when I first heard about it.

My own history and learning therefore informs how I experience and understand the Breath of Life, so this journal is my take on trying to put words to a wordless and wonderful phenomenon.

A Divine Presence

Franklyn Sills, a pioneer in Biodynamics describes it like this:

“Over time, I have come to understand that the Breath of Life is a divine presence only appreciated in a state of stillness and unknowing…It cannot be manipulated or used by the practitioner in any way. One can only humbly witness its creative action in and between human systems.”

I think of the Breath of Life as an ordering principle, a governing force that sits within the core of our being, but can be felt everywhere. It’s both ephemeral and deeply real, elusive and ever-present. It’s what I see as the most important element of my session work, if we are to truly listen to what the body needs. 

Holding knowledge of which anatomical structures or processes we might be in contact with during a session is part of the picture, but we also learn to work with wonder, reverence and trust in the incredible intelligence that is the human body.

I hold the belief in a session that your body has everything it needs to be well and vital. I hold my attention solely on the idea that you are a complex, multifaceted, living being with a history, stories, relationships and hopes for the future, and you alone hold the keys to your own unfurling. The Breath of Life is what enables this information to move, live and change. Within this mysterious force lies instructions for healing, regeneration, and recovery. Our blueprint for health, wholeness and wellbeing live within the Breath of Life.

Echoes of the Breath of Life can be found in many spiritual traditions. Like the Holy Spirit or sacred breath in the Christian tradition, the Breath of Life is the divine intention to create in action. In Buddhism, it may be called Bodhicitta or Rigpa. In Taoism its presence may be likened to the great Tai Chi. (Sills, 2011)

The Power of Being Held

The most common feedback I get from BCST sessions is that it feels like such a relief to finally be so deeply held. Most have not been held in this way since they were a baby, or cannot remember ever being held in this way at all.

I believe this feeling of being held comes from our direct contact with the Breath of Life. It’s the Breath of Life itself—our essence—that is recognised, and it loves to be recognised! BCST offers a rare opportunity to be seen, held and understood at the most fundamental level of life. If you have never experienced this, you cannot underestimate the impact it can have. 

Touching upon this force in a session is not something that can be planned or summoned. It is spontaneous and a gift. What I can do as a practitioner is create the right environment for this to emerge. Safety, trust, connection and patience are all elements that I take great care and time to establish.

When it does arise, it feels like meeting the deepest, oldest parts of you. It’s like sinking gently below the surface of the ocean, beneath the currents, beneath the tides, and into the stillness found only at great depth. Here, in the quiet, silent space of your body lives the Breath of Life.  It feels, sometimes, like I am humble witness to a deep sea creature rising slowly through the silent darkness to the surface, bringing with it ancient wisdom for the benefit of your healing. It has a clear direction and intention and is full of love and understanding. When this energy is contacted, it evokes reverence and humility and there is not much to do but sit back and allow it to work its magic.

Simply put, it’s a feeling of connecting to someone being-to-being, the most natural and innate recognition of life witnessing life.

Sills says,

“as the Breath of Life emerges from a depth of stillness, one experiences heart-opening radiance, loving kindness and compassion, a sense of great spaciousness and peace, a depth of love and interconnection, and a perception of presence that seems to enfold, uphold, and maintain life. For me, this can only arise when I am in a state of emptiness, open to the present moment in all humility. Even then, I can have no expectations of its presence… [it] is not an everyday clinical experience. It emerges as a state of grace and this cannot be controlled or manipulated in anyway.”

Why It Matters For Healing

Sometimes the Breath of Life is a little quiet, and it takes longer or many sessions, before it emerges or makes itself known. This doesn’t mean it isn’t there, in fact the Breath of Life is what animates us. Though, in our human bodies, there may be layers of pain, trauma, stories and emotions that have formed to protect the most vulnerable parts of us. At the heart of your being is the fragility and beauty of life itself, and this life must feel safe before it can be seen. This is why such intention shapes every session and why safety and consent is integral to our work. We lay that foundation first, and from there, when the conditions for healing are right, what needs to happen does and will happen.

So, why is this esoteric concept so important in our session work? Well, the Breath of Life is like the ultimate guide to your healing. If we can let go and trust in the intelligence, power and knowing of this force, we align ourselves with a reality where we are already healing, already whole and where everything in our body is working for us, not against us.

As a practitioner, I hold myself to a very high standard of responsibility. Part of this in practice means regularly making space and time to sit with myself in silence and non-doing. This is where my own relationship with the Breath of Life deepens, it starts to whisper and move, like a wise wind dancing slowly throughout the body and infusing me with hope, presence, self-compassion and acceptance. The deeper I am in relationship with myself, the more wholly I can be present with you and the more skilled I become as a therapist.