Religion, Fear and the Sacred Breath

January 3, 2007

Yirser sent this note out to me and I wanted to share it with you. Very

powerful:

By Yirser Ra Hotep

The other day I was passing some of my Yoga related literature at a Kwanzaa

celebration. I gave a brochure to a Brother who simultaneously handed me a

flyer about a church event. When he looked at my brochure and saw the word

Yoga he almost fell out. He got very nervous and gave the brochure back to

me. He stated that he couldn't accept this piece of information because it

said something about Yoga and Yoga is against his religion. Out of

curiosity I asked him what about Yoga bothered him. He stated that Yoga was

Hinduism and it went against Jesus. I stated that Yoga has nothing to do

with Hinduism or any religion and it fact it pre-dates Hinduism in India by

thousands of years. I also stated that Yoga is a science that originated in

Africa and is simply a system a self-development. This brother was having

no part of anything I was saying. He actually appeared traumatized simply

to be having this conversation and kept trying to get away from me. Then

another Brother who was close by chimed in and began to challenge him on

being closed to new information. Without going into all the details of this

encounter, my point is that fear often causes us to become closed-minded.

Improper understanding of religion causes some to believe that to simply

relax, clear and focus their minds that they are putting themselves in

jeopardy of being invaded by " evil " spirits.

It is ironic that meditation was an integral part of Christian prayer up

until the Protestant Reformation that was led by Martin Luther. In fact the

so-called Old Testament of the Bible speaks of figures such as Moses

praying, meditating and fasting in the desert. Jesus prayed, meditated and

fasted for 40 days in the desert and used the strength he gained to combat

the influence of the " devil " .

Meditation is an aspect of Yoga. It is based upon the proper control of the

Breath. By controlling the breath we are able to access the parasympathetic

aspect of the autonomic nervous system. This allows us to stimulate the

body's natural internal healing systems and to bring balance to emotional

and cognitive functions of the mind. Yoga and meditation in fact create a

state where practitioners become immune to the effects of negative external

influences. A proper understanding of the Biblical references to the

" Breath " should inform those that adhere to the teachings of that book to

the power of Yoga and Meditation. In Genesis it states that God shaped

humans from the soil of the earth then breathed the " Breath of Life " into

us. This means that the elements that compose our bodies come from the

earth. That is why we must continuously replenish ourselves with through

the eating of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds that come from the

earth or with the flesh of animals that ate these substances from the earth.

At the same time we should replenish our energy system, life system with the

Breath. We do we consciously eat food, yet we do not consciously breathe?

We breathe automatically without thinking about it. Yet the message in

Genesis is that we should consciously and continuously breathe not only as a

way of keeping us alive, but also as a way of " praising " our Creator. Even

the word Respiratory tells us that the Spirit of God enters into us each

time we take a breath. The word is really RE-SPIRIT-ORY. With each breath

we take we are re-energizing ourselves with the SPIRIT of GOD. We are

worshiping and praising God by taking in the very essence that he gave us in

order to animate the matter of our bodies that would otherwise be without

life (ANKH).

In actuality meditation when done properly is combined with proper breathing

and specific breathing exercises that makes the life force more potent and

directs it through the bio-energetic system. This strengthens the mind,

creates stronger concentration and focus. These effects can only be tools

that we can use to make us better in everything that we do.

In my experience I have encountered many Black folks in positions of

authority in our educational and social service systems that profess to be

religious, yet are afraid to let our children learn a science that can only

help them to achieve greater heights of personal accomplishments in their

lives. They believe that Yoga is Hinduism because someone who wrote a book

or got up in a " sermon " told them this. They believe that freeing your mind

through breath control and meditation lets the " devil " in, while in reality

it releases the demons of ignorance and FEAR.

I started teaching Yoga to children in 1979 and have seen the positive

results thousands of times. In an age when our children are suffering from

so many mental, emotional and physical disorders we cannot be afraid of

having conversations with each other about possible solutions.

Yirser Ra Hotep

www.yogaskills.com

Dr. Sunyatta Amen

www.GoMamaSita.com

www.VegSoul.com

January 3, 2007

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing it. I am a Christian who has found how important it is to breath properly. It is so calming to the spirit and rejuvenating to the soul. I have also had training in Quantum touch (healing touch) and the breath is so important in strengthening the body to send out the healing energy to others. In my anatomy class we are studying how alkalizing deep breathing because it allows for greater release of CO2. God's breath gives life.

Nancy

Nancy Parlette HEALTHY LIVING STRATEGIES Natural Health Counselor Nutrition Educator ENERGIZING YOU FOR LIVING!

(410) 531-2410 http://www.healthylivingstrategies.net/

On Behalf Of dr sunyatta amenWednesday, January 03, 2007 9:43 AM Subject: Religion, Fear and the Sacred Breath

Yirser sent this note out to me and I wanted to share it with you. Very powerful:Religion, Fear and the Sacred BreathBy Yirser Ra HotepThe other day I was passing some of my Yoga related literature at a Kwanzaa celebration. I gave a brochure to a Brother who simultaneously handed me a flyer about a church event. When he looked at my brochure and saw the word Yoga he almost fell out. He got very nervous and gave the brochure back to me. He stated that he couldn't accept this piece of information because it said something about Yoga and Yoga is against his religion. Out of curiosity I asked him what about Yoga bothered him. He stated that Yoga wasHinduism and it went against Jesus. I stated that Yoga has nothing to do with Hinduism or any religion and it fact it pre-dates Hinduism in India by thousands of years. I also stated that Yoga is a science that originated inAfrica and is simply a system a self-development. This brother was having no part of anything I was saying. He actually appeared traumatized simply to be having this conversation and kept trying to get away from me. Then another Brother who was close by chimed in and began to challenge him on being closed to new information. Without going into all the details of thisencounter, my point is that fear often causes us to become closed-minded. Improper understanding of religion causes some to believe that to simply relax, clear and focus their minds that they are putting themselves in jeopardy of being invaded by "evil" spirits.It is ironic that meditation was an integral part of Christian prayer up until the Protestant Reformation that was led by Martin Luther. In fact theso-called Old Testament of the Bible speaks of figures such as Moses praying, meditating and fasting in the desert. Jesus prayed, meditated and fasted for 40 days in the desert and used the strength he gained to combat the influence of the "devil".Meditation is an aspect of Yoga. It is based upon the proper control of theBreath. By controlling the breath we are able to access the parasympatheticaspect of the autonomic nervous system. This allows us to stimulate the body's natural internal healing systems and to bring balance to emotional and cognitive functions of the mind. Yoga and meditation in fact create a state where practitioners become immune to the effects of negative external influences. A proper understanding of the Biblical references to the "Breath" should inform those that adhere to the teachings of that book to the power of Yoga and Meditation. In Genesis it states that God shaped humans from the soil of the earth then breathed the "Breath of Life" into us. This means that the elements that compose our bodies come from the earth. That is why we must continuously replenish ourselves with through the eating of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds that come from the earth or with the flesh of animals that ate these substances from the earth.At the same time we should replenish our energy system, life system with theBreath. We do we consciously eat food, yet we do not consciously breathe? We breathe automatically without thinking about it. Yet the message in Genesis is that we should consciously and continuously breathe not only as away of keeping us alive, but also as a way of "praising" our Creator. Even the word Respiratory tells us that the Spirit of God enters into us each time we take a breath. The word is really RE-SPIRIT-ORY. With each breath we take we are re-energizing ourselves with the SPIRIT of GOD. We are worshiping and praising God by taking in the very essence that he gave us inorder to animate the matter of our bodies that would otherwise be without life (ANKH).In actuality meditation when done properly is combined with proper breathingand specific breathing exercises that makes the life force more potent and directs it through the bio-energetic system. This strengthens the mind, creates stronger concentration and focus. These effects can only be tools that we can use to make us better in everything that we do.In my experience I have encountered many Black folks in positions of authority in our educational and social service systems that profess to be religious, yet are afraid to let our children learn a science that can only help them to achieve greater heights of personal accomplishments in their lives. They believe that Yoga is Hinduism because someone who wrote a book or got up in a "sermon" told them this. They believe that freeing your mindthrough breath control and meditation lets the "devil" in, while in reality it releases the demons of ignorance and FEAR.I started teaching Yoga to children in 1979 and have seen the positive results thousands of times. In an age when our children are suffering from so many mental, emotional and physical disorders we cannot be afraid of having conversations with each other about possible solutions.Yirser Ra Hotepwww.yogaskills.com Dr. Sunyatta Amenwww.GoMamaSita.comwww.VegSoul.com