Lamaze Keeps the Universe Together

When I watched my wife give birth and saw the Lamaze technique, it struck me that the core principle that directs such breathing is much like what I had been saying outside of childbirth through the years - "Breathe!" Since that epiphany almost twenty years ago, my wife (and oldest daughter and second son, particularly) have worked out a visual cue when they start to react to stress. I simply grin and say, "Lamaze keeps the universe together" - sometimes with a palm extended downward. Then I say, "Breathe" - and wait for them to take a couple of truly deep, slow breaths. I have found that when they actually do take a "deep cleansing breath", there is a real difference in their ability to release the stress of the moment and act in (rather than react to) the situation at hand.

I also am struck my how much clearer things can be in the morning after extended slow breathing as we sleep. I have come to believe that there is a powerful lesson in the injunction to "sleep on it" - even if it is by employing something like unto it.