Q: I'm at Activating Our Process/Maintaining Our Momentum. Earlier in the book, I read to not do the Breathing Exercise on an empty stomach. Now I read, on p. 121to attend to the 15 minute breathing exercise, twice each day, as the FIRST THING WE DO AFTER WE ARE FULLY AWAKE and as the LAST THING WE DO BEFORE WE CLIMB INTO BED AT NIGHT. Does that mean eat right before?
A: Thank you for asking this question. This one of those recommendations I intend clarifying in the revised edition of TPP. I would say in hindsight that the opposite stands: Not to attempt any practice like what is offered in TPP on a full stomach - like right after a large meal. These types of exercises are most efficiently approached through a life of moderation. I breathe first thing in the morning. However, I also first get up, have a large glass of water, a quiet cup of coffee, play with my cats, read and answer a few emails to get myself mentally awake, and then attend to my breathing. So, it is not really "first thing in the morning". However, it is before I interact with humans and venture out of my front door into the activities of the world. I also breathe last thing at night. However, sometimes I may attend to the practice earlier in the evening, especially if I have had a strenuous day - because I know that when feeling worn, if I do it just before bed, I am only going to dissolve into nap city. This is where we are encourage to allow our experience to be our teacher. The recommendations in the book - in any of my writings - are simply guidelines - not rules. I recommend you try breathing under various different circumstances to discover what is most efficient for your experience. We are each a unique expressions of the vibrational, and so it is up to us to explore ourselves experientially to discover how we function most efficiently. We are our own laboratory in which we are to experiment. What works for me may not work for you, and vice verse. This is why it is crucial to integrate what is meant by: Allow your experience to become your teacher. Take action and observe the consequences. Then, learn from the consequences what is efficient action to take. Once we enter this approach to our human experience, we are freeing ourselves of all outer rules and heading fast into trusting our inner realizations to be the most efficient truths in fueling our momentum. This approach - of implicitly trusting what the consequences of our own activity reveal - is the pathway leading directly into authenticity, integrity, and intimacy. This is the pathway of self-mastery.
