Breathing as Spiritual Practice

Experiencing the Presence of God

Will Johnson

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Paperback

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English

Inner Traditions Bear and Company
01 November 2019

Spirituality & religious experience; Mind, body, spirit: meditation & visualisation

Surprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath.

In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God.

Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.

By: Will Johnson
Imprint: Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 137mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 222g
ISBN: 9781620556870
ISBN 10: 1620556871
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 01 November 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Will Johnson has been a Buddhist practitioner since 1972 and a Certified Rolfer since 1976. He is the director of the Institute for Embodiment Training and teaches a deeply body-oriented approach to sitting meditation at Buddhist centers around the world. He is the author of a number of books, including Breathing through the Whole Body, The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, and Eyes Wide Open. He lives in Costa Rica.

Reviews for Breathing as Spiritual Practice: Experiencing the Presence of God

“Will Johnson sounds a clarion call for integration to a fragmented world. Ever the quintessential body and breath awareness teacher, Johnson skillfully brings together the three monotheistic religions by way of a spiritual practice common to all. Interwoven with his own candid, sometimes poignant, personal experience, Johnson offers a message of hope to all of us, wherever we find ourselves in our desire to be present to what is.” * Antoinette Voûte Roeder, author of Poems for Meditation and The Space Between *