Breathing, Mudras and Meridians Direct Experience of

Embodiment

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 6 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Harvey has been a Certified Rolfer since 1984, Certified Advanced Rolfer since
1990, Rolf Movement Practitioner since 1999, and Biodynamic Craniosacral prac-
titioner since 1984. His interest in combining these three approaches while work-
ing with clients led to the development of his trainings in Biodynamic Structural
Integration, which began in 2005.
The problem of figuring out how to not run out of breath while distance running,
and being around adults with emphysema, captured Harvey’s interest in breathing
at an early stage. A large part of the attraction that Rolfing held for him lay in that
discipline’s ability to alter the texture and pliability of the intercostal muscles of the
ribcage so that there could be more room for the lungs to expand, and more ease
throughout the thorax to allow the lungs to deflate more fully.
Since the early 1980s his professional interest in breathing has followed two
paths of inquiry: (1) how to free up tissue within the body, by working with connec-
tive tissue; by increasing the motility of the individual lobes of the lungs through
visceral manipulation; how to tease out limiting habitual holding patterns
through movement therapy; and how to titrate out emotional and kinetic charge
through Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy; and (2) to discover whether or not there
are any inherent feedback loops within the body that can be called upon to support
our activities.
Over his nearly four-decade full-time career in manual therapies, Harvey has also
pursued a variety of interests that deepened his work and instruction of Structural
Integration. These interests have centered on questions of how life works. What
is our proper place in Nature? What is the relationship between the wiring of our
nervous systems, established through our attachment patterns and our physical
structure and behavior? What is the relationship between our belief systems and
structure? What is the relationship between ancestral patterns and structure and
behavior? Most importantly, what can work with these realities?
Our breathing activates the answers to these questions, leading us on a path
to embodiment that clarifies and contextualizes our inner experiences within the
natural world.

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 8 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 FOREWORD by Michael J. Shea

The Internet is awash in breathing techniques. Earth. Each chapter explores beautifully the
Yoga classes have their pranayama with every nuances of embodied breathing. This gem from
asana, and Zazen extols the posture of sit- Bill Harvey is about the necessary integration
ting like a mountain and breathing like a river. and evolution of the breath as interior knowing
Neurophysiologists tell us the importance of that is so needed in our contemporary culture.
respiratory sinus arrhythmia, inhalation and Breathing started at the beginning of our
exhalation influencing the autonomic nervous Universe. This motion is associated with the
system. Vagal maneuvers to stimulate the element of wind or air in Eastern medical sys-
vagus nerve with breathing are very popular tems. To know the breath deeply is to sense its
these days. But how is this taught? For the subtlety both inside and out. Eastern medical
most part, the missing ingredient is direct systems have three levels of interiority asso-
awareness of the interiority of the body. Final- ciated with the wind element: the ordinary
ly, here is a book on developing a felt sense of physical body, the subtle body and the very
the breath, a non-conceptual knowledge of subtle body. All three levels are a unified whole
the body breathing. interconnected with the natural world all the
Manipulation of the ordinary breath was way to the beginning of the cosmos. Each
the favorite target of stress-reduction strat- breath is the original breath and this book pro-
egies and breathing techniques from differ- vides access to such originality consciously.
ent schools such as Holotropic Breath Work, We must begin with interiority of the breath
Reichian Therapy, Bioenergetics and Rebirth- or we can get lost in defensive physiology and
ing. However, these and other breathing tech- mistrusting the simplicity of breathing itself.
niques were principally designed for release- The breath of air informs and outforms our
based catharsis and emotional release. This bodies with the overt action of the respiratory
was a phase of reclaiming the body from its diaphragm, and simultaneously with the deli-
locked-in trauma during the 1970s and 1980s. cate circuits of acupuncture meridians. We are
Gradually, bodies and minds changed for the expertly shown, step by step throughout the
sake of deeper safety and self-regulation. text, how to blend the ordinary with the subtle
This ushered in an enormous popularity with for self-healing, self-care, and self-compassion.
Hatha Yoga, mindfulness meditation, Chi Kung The offerings in this book are superb because
and various breathing techniques. Emotional they come from a master who has experi-
release with breathing techniques became enced every word written herein for 40 years
out of phase with the evolving needs of the in clinical practice. Through the spectrum of
mind and body in our post-9/11 age. It was the interoceptive awareness, he brings the read-
dawn of the necessity for an integrated spir- er’s attention to the so-called subtle body
itual approach to healing the body. in Eastern medicine with the use of mudras,
This is an authoritative text on the breath by expert mindful and precise attention. This
that completes the transition from the trau- book is the birth of an appropriate and correct
matic to the spiritual. Reading the Table of phenomenology of breathing for the contem-
Contents takes one on a journey through the porary client to experience self-knowing aware-
cosmos with the breath while grounded on ness of their bodily interiority. It is radical in

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 CHAPTERFOREWORD continued

the sense of helping us to remember our express their aptitude for such intentional-
breathing bodies as a primary resource in ity based on direct feedback from their body.
distancing from the world of materialism, This volume is both a meditation and a com-
consumerism and hedonism. prehensive roadmap with which to awaken
As a culture, we are in great need of an the wisdom of the body.
evolutionary upgrade to breathing practice, The body breathing is its own intelligence,
a bridging from the old templates superim- and it is capable of knowing and directing the
posed upon body physiology to the organic spiritual process as it unfolds in its own time
wisdom already present in the body, the and place. We are being breathed by love. This
mind, and the spirit. This practice opens is the experience you will learn in this book.
rather than tightens the body, and allows
each person to discover their own ordinary
Michael J. Shea MPsy PhD LMT
body breathing mindfully, oceanically and
intentionally (whether for stress reduction, International Educator of Biodynamic
cleansing and detoxification, or making love). Craniosacral Therapy
Every individual will have their own unique Buddhist Chaplain student, Upaya Institute
style of transitioning to the subtle ownership Juno Beach, Florida, USA
of their pre-existing wisdom breath and will March 2021

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 FOREWORD by Amy Wheeler

The connection of regulated breathing, the have the technologies with which to measure
mental placement of attention, and effects its effects. It is my theory that breathing tech-
on the energetic channels, were known about niques, visualizations and hand gestures may
long ago by the ancient sages. This knowledge be the outward expression of an inner tech-
was documented and practiced for thousands nology that enables us to have a potent expe-
of years in many different cultures around the rience of connection to self. The tools help us
world. It is interesting to note how modern to focus our attention, to go inward, to feel
medical doctors, exercise physiologists, phys- and sense, and to be in the present moment
ical therapists and others focus on the gross in an embodied way. I believe that this deep
elements of our physiology and structure internal experience of self-connection is the
and sometimes dismiss this ancient knowl- main causative agent of change and healing.
edge. They claim that the subtle energies One simple example of how subtle concentra-
cannot be empirically tested and confirmed tion techniques, hand gestures and regulated
with a double-blind, randomized, controlled breathing can help to heal is when an individual is
research trial. It is as if the human experiences lying in bed at night experiencing insomnia. The
that ancient people had daily for thousands person’s mind may be jumping all over the place
of years have no weight in today’s socie- with many worries, their body feels restless
ty. Instead, we only take what we have learned and their breathing is labored. Using the ancient
in the past few hundred years and state that techniques, the breath is slowed, and is felt
this is the one and only truth. moving in and out of the nostrils. Then the hands
I for one, along with Bill Harvey, agree that are held closely to the body in unique forms, and
these techniques would not have endured the mind focuses on the meaning and sensa-
throughout time and history if they did not tions of the hand gestures. Body, breath and
have validity and promote healing from the mind become one in that present moment. A
inside out. What I think some scientists fail to change happens as a result of this one-pointed
understand is that these breathing techniques, focus. As the person rests in this experience for
the mental focus, and the hand gestures, are 15–20 minutes something begins to shift inside
not necessarily the singular activating cata- them. A sense of calm comes over the mind
lyst for healing. Consequently, it is difficult and body. Inner tensions are released and the
to prove their efficacy using scientific meth- organs begin to soften. The breath deepens as
ods. However, by adopting a phenomenologi- the relaxation response becomes the new state,
cal method of inquiry, scientific methods are replacing the stress response. Energetic shifts
now being linked to more qualitative research happen at very subtle levels that we are cur-
methods to provide a fuller picture of reality. rently unable to measure. The individual drifts
The ancient texts are a valid authority and into a deep and satisfying sleep. This extremely
they clearly describe the energy channels of meaningful experience of moving from insom-
the body, and which healing techniques are nia into deep sleep is real. As a Yoga Therapist, I
likely to influence the flow of the life-force. It have been teaching my clients to practice these
is possible that healing using that life-force lifestyle habits for decades. There is no doubt
occurs at such a subtle level that we do not yet in my mind that they have helped many people

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 FOREWORD continued

to suffer less. The scenario unfolds, just as the success with more modern methods and
ancient teachings indicated thousands of years technologies as a solution to their suffer-
ago. ing. The magic of improving chronic pain,
I am delighted that Bill Harvey has writ- reducing infertility, and supporting those
ten this book. I believe that it will be benefi- with autoimmune conditions occurs when
cial for many people who are open to these the body, breath and mind are all focused in
methods of healing. I admire that he has the same direction. I believe that this is the
produced such a brave and ambitious book. It future of healing.
takes courage to find the bridge between
Eastern and Western methods and to bring
them together in a cohesive manner. I have Amy Wheeler PhD
created my own bridge between East and Professor of Kinesiology
West with The Optimal State Method. I see President of the International Association of
daily how my clients use their breath, their Yoga Therapists (2018–2020)
attentive minds, hand gestures and medita- Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)
tion to reduce suffering at the many layers
Cedarpines Park, California, USA
of the human system. These techniques are
especially useful for those who have not had March 2021

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 PREFACE

This is a book about being in your body. As encouragement of publisher Sarena Wolfaard,
a recovering scholar with extensive aca- whose expert management of a volatile first-
demic training, the prospect of writing about time author was nothing less than awesome.
embodiment and discussing what all the great Frequent encouragement from friend and
philosophers have said about embodiment mentor Michael Shea, Mia Bosna’s superb
seemed like a fun exercise. Except for one and multitudinous photos of my hands hold-
thing: none of it helps people experience being ing mudras, and the organizing support of
in their bodies. In fact, academics as a group Connie Vandarakis, were crucial in getting me
are probably the least embodied people we’re to actually finish rather than to continually add
ever likely to find. Shockingly, body-oriented more and more depth. Many discussions with
people, such as bodyworkers, yoga teachers, colleagues and friends over the past decade,
physical therapists, personal trainers, and particularly fellow movement students of the
even dancers, are also not likely to operate ultimate movement teacher, Hubert Godard,
from the perspective of the lived experience of have helped to shape my perspective and
being in their bodies. Becoming aware of that approach. Regular feedback from my Structural
lived experience is not an intellectual exercise, Integration students and my Mudra Meditation
it is a matter of learning how to perceive and class served to fine-tune each of the exercises.
interpret the bodies’ sensations. Accordingly, This text is a beginner’s guide, and there is so
I have written this book with a minimum of much more!
references, keeping the focus on building a
vocabulary of the lived experience as much as
possible. Bill Harvey
This book would not have been possible Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
without the bodhisattva-like compassion and February 2021

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Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 14 30/04/21 4:22 PM
 INTRODUCTION

According to Scott Pelley, the retired CBS jour- less aware: attachment patterns, epigenetics,
nalist, in the second decade of the twenty- trauma histories and parenting styles.
first century humanity went “from the Age of Without self-awareness and a cultivation
Information to the Age of Disinformation” (A1, of discernment, our instincts may consist of
2019). These days, it is argued, that a culture nothing more than a group of unconsciously
based upon a ubiquity of untruths provides a ingrained prejudices. The foods we eat and our
self-evident lesson: that the education of the basic gut health also contribute. Gerson (1998)
vast majority of students, at least in the USA, contends that the gut generates more neuro-
consists of not only not teaching students transmitters than the brain. This leads to the
how to think for themselves, it offers no cri- concept of the “gut brain”, the functioning of
teria for them with which to judge truth. Thus, which is compromised and subverted if our diets
telling people what they want to hear, or what consist of pre-prepared or packaged food that
the purveyor of that information wants them has low nutritional value. We do not feel safe in
to know, has become more important than the world without proper nutrition. A processed
conveying what is authentic. food diet can lead to metabolic syndrome, a
The antecedents for this state of affairs cluster of conditions which occur together. This
include a 24-hour news cycle that requires may result in heightened blood pressure, high
information to be disseminated in 60-second blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist,
soundbites. This results in an environment and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
where every (previously) credible source As the body struggles with these challenges,
of information, indeed every institution, we no longer feel safe (Shea, 2019; Bloom,
attempts to look good and cover up any unwel- 2013), which can affect how we think. Indeed,
come truths. No organization is exempt from there are many concurrent factors that must be
this accusation. The reputations of the church, accounted for when we examine all the intricate
the government, political parties, entertain- processes involved in the development of our
ment moguls and even medical journals have awareness and discernment.
all been tarnished, and it may therefore not Some believe that each of us is born with
be unreasonable to reach a conclusion that innate guidance and wisdom that can be
nobody can be trusted. trusted, and that this guidance manifests as
In these troubled times, it is inevitable that an inner voice. Each of us is born with access
many of us believe we can only trust ourselves. to these voices. However, familial and cul-
Each of us possesses an instinct for survival tural patterns of established authority act as
that is informed by the social construction of obstacles to us accessing these voices. Con-
our identities, including our families, and the sequently, receptivity to these inner voices
tribal and national experiences which have must be cultivated, otherwise they will be
preceded and currently exist parallel to us. lost in life’s accumulated and overpowering
Added to the foundational relationships and noises. Daily, we undergo experiences which
histories that determine many aspects of our strengthen the aforementioned patterns of
identities are other factors of which we are established authority.

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 INTRODUCTION continued

Historically, since the rise of capitalism, the Among the American population, many indi-
Earth and its resources have been viewed as viduals are out of touch with their bodies, and
commodities for exploitation. For millennia, my profession supports clients in their pursuit
religions have inserted the authority of the of optimal health through improved struc-
church into the relationship between humans tural integrity. For several decades I believed
and a higher power. This means that we live that one way to encourage people to become
in a society in which we are estranged from embodied was to teach the optimal aware-
ourselves and the environment around us, ness of breathing patterns. This approach fos-
and disconnected from any power conceivably ters body awareness and offers suggestions
more powerful than humans. on how the breath can be used to regulate our
Without ready access to our inner voices, emotional state, and also how we may culti-
disembodiment, or the body becoming some- vate a meditative state to enable access to our
thing which we bend to our will, shall follow. inner voices.
Each of us can rebuild our relationship with In the last decade there has been a prolif-
this inner voice and, although there are many eration of discussions regarding embodiment,
ways to achieve a sense of internal integra- what it is, and what types of embodiment are
tion, the most important way to become cog- available. As engaging as these discussions
nizant of your intuition is through meditation. are, they share one characteristic: they are
For many of us, an extraordinary experience intellectual discussions offering few practi-
such as a near death experience may be nec- cal guidelines on how to assess whether one
essary before we realize that our inner voice is actually embodied. By this I mean that it
is something other than our acculturated is quite possible for a person to believe that
common sense. they are embodied without having any sense
What is the essence of authority in our lives? of what being embodied feels like. Before pro-
Where can we place our trust? ceeding further, it is important that I provide
an explanation of a word that we will explore
This book contends that the only place
in greater detail throughout this book.
where we can and must place our trust is
within ourselves. However, to accomplish Embodiment is a term that shares char-
this, we must first cultivate an awareness of acteristics with words such as grounded or
ourselves, which necessitates learning more centered. It is the state of being fully and com-
about ourselves. Furthermore, to understand pletely within the self, and operating as a sub-
more about ourselves we must work both ject rather than as opposed to an object. We
with and through our bodies. We must reject may think that we know what the word (and
ideas that the body is something to be exer- others like it) means but achieving such a state
cised into shape or transcended in meditation. of being has nothing to do with how we think.
All such terms connote sensations we feel in
Perhaps it is inevitable I believe that in order
our bodies. If we have never felt grounded in
to counteract our disconnection from facts
our bodies, or centered in our bodies, then we
and establish authority within ourselves we
do not truly know what these terms mean.
must cultivate a relationship with our bodies.

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 INTRODUCTION continued

This is a failure of our educational system. It being manipulative? The answer will start with
is possible to feel that if we exercise a lot, if we the breath.
make our bodies do what we want them to do, For this reason, for many years I held the belief
then we are embodied. This is not necessarily that teaching people to access the resource of
true just because we have treated our bodies breathing was the only critical variable neces-
as things to be exercised into shape. It is pos- sary to bring about embodiment. But sadly,
sible to think that if we feel deep spiritual rev- teaching breath awareness does have limited
erence then we are embodied. Again, this is utility in fostering embodiment during diffi-
not necessarily the case. It is possible to expe- cult circumstances. There is no point in telling
rience transcendent states without grounding people to breathe deeply if they cannot catch
those sensations throughout the body. their breath. Driving home this point were the
With nowhere to turn to in the outer world nor consequences of the U.S. 2016 presidential
in our inner worlds, the only possibility for us to election. Upon learning of the results, many
begin to develop trust is with our own breath- people were actually unable to breathe.
ing. Breathing is the bridge between the outer I still believe that teaching breathing helps
world and our inner reality, and breathing does with self-awareness and expands our reper-
not lie. We can pretend to be calm and cool. Our toire in terms of learning the true capabilities
breathing will reveal the physiological reality of our bodies. But to reach sufficient embodi-
that we are neither, even when we force the ment to know what is true within oneself, to
breath to conform to our self-image. Becom- be able to harmonize with all of the life-forces
ing aware of our breathing is the window to the within one’s ecozone, and to be able to incor-
stark realities of our lives. Are we excited or are porate spiritual learning into one’s everyday
we in terror? Are we being authentic or self- life, we need more than cognitive prompting,
righteous? Are we in genuine need or are we we need altogether different tools.

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 xviii

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 ANATOMY AS AN
ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE

Those of us born in the West are likely to

equate our bodies with the concept of anat-
omy. This identification is so pervasive that
it is as invisible as air. Advertising, educa-
tion, Western medicine and most West-
ern religious teachings identify the body
with anatomy. This concept of the body
1
Rene Descartes (1596–1650), and built upon
the achievements which arose when the
Catholic Church began to allow cadaver dis-
sections. Among those achievements were
the magnificent anatomy illustrations of
Vesalius (1514–1564).
Also occurring around this time was Euro-
as anatomy became prevalent during the
sixteenth century, at the same time as the pean maritime exploration and the creation
metaphor that the body is like a machine and normalization of the transatlantic slave
gained footing in the collective conscious- trade. As a result of these developments,
ness. This metaphor may have been seen as human bodies were no longer seen as in
ennobling because of the concurrent explo- and of themselves sacred. Certainly, non-
sion of intricate Swiss watchmaking. But Christian bodies were not regarded as sacred.
the body-as-a-machine metaphor is unfor- In turn, this led to a greater separation
tunate. Not only does it encourage a philo- between inspiration and perspiration. Bodies
sophical understanding of humanness were not, in and of themselves, sacred, and
that separates the body from the mind, it spiritual experiences were not seen as arising
sidesteps the question of vitality. from within a physical, experiential context.
The idea that our bodies are defined by our
Machines run on sources of energy such as anatomy is not neutral. Although the medical
electricity, and humans run on food, which benefits of studying anatomy are self-evident,
comes from light. Unlike machines, humans it is important to note that approaching our
have an internal source of vitality that goes bodies and lives with anatomy as the organ-
far beyond food. This is the breath. Dead izing concept fosters disembodiment and
bodies do not breathe. limits our capacity to understand all that our
Both the mind/body split, and the idea of bodies are doing as they relate to the environ-
the body as a machine, were articulated by ment, and how they attempt to communicate

Harvey_Breathing Mudras and Meridians.indb 1 30/04/21 4:22 PM

 CHAPTER 1

with us, if only we had the resources to listen The benefits of this separation of body
to and interpret their messages. and mind, as well as the separation of body
and the sacred, included the freedom of the
mind to research everything it could con-
How the study of anatomy fosters ceive of, even to the extent of omitting the
disembodiment body and its perceptions from the equation
for research.
The study of anatomy is a consequence of
the process initiated by the Catholic Church There is no embedded personhood, no
to sever the bonds between humans and the self-implied in anatomy. Indeed, other than
Earth. This process systematically stigma- autopsy-driven aspects of pathology, there’s
tized those who represented different belief no indication that there could ever have
systems, many of whom were women, who in been a “self” connected to the body within
general understood how to work with plants anatomy. Where would it be? Entire fields
to promote health and healing. This special- of inquiry are based on this fundamental
ized knowledge suggested ways for humans ontological assumption. And these fields
to fit into the environment and how to work of inquiry become the basis for the West-
with the Earth’s resources. With the severing ern definition of knowledge and how that
of this connection, humanity lost its feeling knowledge is to be transmitted. Academic
of belonging, and its view of how we coex- knowledge and learning omit the integrity
ist with the rest of life on Earth, as well as a of the body and its access to meaning and
sense of the sacred, which pre-existing reli- truth. There is no self, therefore there is no
gious systems found within the planet and authority within it. The idea that the body
all of its lifeforms. Without knowing who we could be connected to or have any mean-
were and how humanity fitted into the envi- ingful relationship with the self is seen as
ronment, many of the inherent relationships unlikely, if not actually preposterous. No
with family, group and land were also sev- wonder that for centuries Europeans, their
ered. We were left with what Hamlet called descendants and those colonized by them,
“the guts”, or what’s left over after we die. have struggled with the concept that the
body has its own authority within, and that
The guts tell us nothing about the concerns it is able to access and establish truth. All
that have arisen during the last few hundred authority must come from the church or
years since we have lost an awareness of our science.
context…What is the mind? What is the
relationship of the brain to the mind? What The types of inquiry that are the subjects
is the self? What is a body and what are its of scientific study tend to foster another level
capabilities? What can we say about the rela- of disembodiment to the study of anatomy.
tionship between the body and the mind, Because the only intentional measure of
and the body and the self? Is the material- truth within the scientific/medical establish-
ist worldview supported and justified by any ment is repeatable data analysis, science dis-
part or parts of the body? credits the perception of the subject. “What

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