The Four Dimensions of Health
The universe provides nourishment and breathing is our way of absorbing it.
—Heiner Fruehauf
The vitality and abilities of our mind and body depend fundamentally on our health. To what degree is our life energy being devoted to our goals, dreams, and passions? Or to what degree is it being spent in damage control? Our health is the most critical factor in determining quality of life and what we each can achieve.
Billions of dollars are spent each year on medicines and methods of improving and recovering our health, not all of them effective. Thankfully, there is now a growing emphasis on preventive medicine. More people are realizing that ultimately we cannot simply depend on a doctor or anyone else for health. We must assume personal responsibility for taking care of our bodies, for the food we eat, and for the environment in which we live.
There is also a heightened awareness of the role our thoughts and emotions play in the overall health picture. We realize that exercising our minds is as important as exercising our bodies, and that healthy positive thoughts and emotions are just as important as pure air, water, and food. What we feed our mind is just as important as what we feed our body.
This approach to health is not revolutionary. It is, in fact, ancient. But in recent decades people who adhere to this philosophy and lifestyle have been dismissed as “health nuts.” Current research is now supporting the ancient common wisdom that just as there are four dimensions of living, there are also four dimensions to our health:
Each of these dimensions has both the capability to affect and infect the others. They are inextricably linked and tightly interwoven. Unresolved issues and lack of balance in any one of these areas can spread and manifest in the others, resulting in discomfort, dysfunction, and disease. An excellent example of this is the anxiety attack, where fearful emotions, founded or unfounded, can give rise to physiological responses that range from annoying to debilitating.
Two Philosophies of Healing
There are two systems of health care that predominate the field today—allopathic and holistic. Both have their strengths and conscious breathing techniques play an important role in both. Although this is a complex subject that does not lend itself easily to generalizations, we will try to do just that in order to provide a context for the discussion of health and healing.
Western systems of health care and treatment are often referred to as allopathic. The allopathic approach to medicine is based on the scientific method (i.e., theories of disease pathology, physiology, and treatment are developed and tested), often using randomized, double-blind tests to prove their efficacy. This approach is often considered disease-centric, as its focus is on the disease and its elimination. Theories and treatments that can be supported and proven using accepted scientific testing methods can gain acceptance, while those that are not borne out by testing, or do not fit this model, do not gain acceptance.
The holistic philosophy of healing focuses on the overall picture of the individual—the condition of mind, body, emotions, and spirit. It strives to activate the body’s natural healing systems gently from within. Great emphasis is placed on individualized treatments, clinical observations, and empirical results. Less weight is placed on the development of supporting theories and testing. If a treatment is found over time to be effective, a practitioner may not be overly concerned at understanding the underlying physical/pathological reasons why. That it is effective is enough.
An excellent example of this is qi, which (known by many names—ki, chi, prana, pneuma, etc.) is understood to be the universal life force—the energy field that gives life and animation to all things. Traditional Chinese medicine focuses on ensuring the free flow of qi throughout our bodies via circulation pathways known as meridians. Practices such as acupuncture profess to manipulate these energy flows to remove blockages and promote health and healing. At this time, no one has been able to isolate or measure this life force, and as such it is neither accepted nor even acknowledged in traditional Western or allopathic medicine (although it should be noted, however, that bacteria, viruses, and atoms all existed well before our ability to detect, analyze, and manipulate them).
Investigations into the effects of the breath on our health and ability to heal have been undertaken from the vantage point of each of these two philosophical approaches, and each has provided insight into the astonishing power of intentional breathing to impact our health, healing, and performance. On the one hand, there are literally thousands of years of anecdotal reports from places such as China and India that promote the view that the breath is both a key indicator of health and well-being and a powerful catalytic force for activating natural, preventive and healing forces within our body and mind.
On the other hand, much clinical research has been done in recent decades that is helping to provide a solid scientific foundation for breathwork practices as well as a much clearer picture of the actual physiological changes that directly impact our body, mind, and emotions. The results of rigorous scientific inquiry into the changes brought about by intentional breathing practices are largely validating the anecdotal information that has been accumulating over the millennia. What seemed to be unbelievable claims for the power of intentional breathing are now well founded on research from well-respected hospitals and universities.
We see now that the breath is singularly able to directly affect our well-being in each of the four dimensions of our life. It has the ability to directly impact our physical health and ability to heal. It can enhance our memory, creativity, and mental acuity, as well as provide a rock-solid foundation from which we can deal with strong emotions, traumatic events, and unproductive thinking. When breath awareness and intentional breathing become integrated and ingrained into our daily lives, we have access to an amazingly potent source of natural energy that both gives us more control over our health, healing, and well-being and works well in tandem with other treatment methods and health regimens.
“I think a lot of mind-body medicine came out of the possibility that people could be more self-regulated than we had previously thought,” says Dr. Saki Santorelli, of the University of Massachusetts Mind Body Stress Reduction Clinic. “While there’s a lot that allopathic medicine, and now other forms of medicine, can do for me, there is a huge range of possibilities around what I can do for myself while I continue to avail myself of the best of allopathic and other forms of traditional healing that perhaps have some kind of basis in science and research. That seemed commonsensical and reasonable to people—that they could bring their own resources to bear on their health and well-being and that this might be one avenue, not the avenue—one avenue for doing that, and of course the breath is central to all of that.”
Interactive Health
The previous chapter briefly outlined the physiological changes that begin to take place as we develop the habit of conscious breathing. But to fully realize just how much power and control we can exercise over our health and healing through conscious breathing, it is worth developing a better understanding of the many ways that the breath can—and does—impact our health.
We have frequently mentioned the different dimensions of our lives—the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, but in reality, we cannot so easily separate them. These four dimensions of our existence are intimately and intricately interwoven and we are so much more effective if we are firing on all cylinders in all dimensions.
Conscious breathing is not a panacea, but it has been shown over thousands of years and through scientific scrutiny to be a powerful agent in each dimension. What makes it exponentially more effective is that it operates simultaneously in each of these dimensions. It provides a foundation for and bolsters all other regimens that we may undertake to improve our vitality and quality of life.
For example, when we use breathing techniques to fend off a cold, not only are our physical body and immune system energized, but we temporarily counteract the effects of stress that may be attacking our body (more about this in the next chapter). For a few minutes we are able to reduce or clear our minds of the constant chatter and mental ricochets that are a hallmark of the active mind. These periods of mindfulness are very important to our emotional health (see part five). It allows us—should we desire in those moments of quiet, to connect to our spiritual nature and do something that can be tremendously difficult—to listen.
It is impossible to control all of the complex variables that impact our health and ability to heal, but by taking full advantage of the preventive and healing power available to us through the simple act of intentional breathing, we can live a healthier life. It’s as simple as that.