Many of you have asked what brand of pine bark extract I use. I take one in the morning and two in the evening of THESE. I noticed huge effects in six weeks, so you have to be patient. Collagen isn’t built in a day! A blog member just informed me that I’ve been taking extract from the Chinese Red Pine instead of the French Maritime Pine, so I might change to that one when I run out. THIS seems like the best buy for that one.

Well, Rune made it back from his race weekend in New Orleans and actually won his race with his broken foot and all! Part of me is irritated that he took a chance, surely against doctor’s orders, but part of me is proud of the track legend he has become!

This next three -part series on oxygen and breathing was all Erik’s idea. I found it very informative and, of course given the topic, extremely important! I hope you feel the same. 

Emanuelle: Hello

Me: Good morning, Emma. I guess it’s good evening over there.

Emanuelle: Yes, it’s like 5 pm here.

Me: How is our boy? Is he there pestering you already?

Emanuelle: Oh yes, he has been pacing back and forth. We were trying to trance channel before you came on. I was meditating, and he was trying to get in. I could feel him go in, and I felt him moving my feet and my hands, but I just can’t seem to let go of the mouth. He hasn’t been able to take over the voice yet, but we’re working on it, and he’s been very patient with me. If I was him I would already be like, “Oh my gosh, she is a hard one to crack,” but we keep trying.

Me: That’s good. I guess it just takes practice. Kim can’t do it. She tries but she can’t totally let go because he says that she’s afraid she’s going to pee her pants or something like that.

Emanuelle: I think for me it’s just a control issue. I like to stay around to see what he’s going to say, and I think that that might be the problem. Like I can’t just say, ‘See you later.’ I just want to stick around. I don’t know; I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m still working on it.

Me: Yes, well you can record it. That way you know you can watch it later.

Emanuelle: Yes, I’ve tried that. It’s just hard, really hard to completely surrender.

Me: Well I can tell you right now that I know I couldn’t be able to do it.

Emanuelle: I think another problem is I still identify myself with this body, and I think in order to completely be able to release my body, I need to be able to step aside and say, ‘Hey, this is your car for a while.’ I think I have to be able to see the body as not me and that I’m this other entity inside of me, and I think I still have a hard time separating the two. Maybe that’s why we’re still working on it. I really want to be able to do this and say to people, ‘Here is Erik. Have fun with him.’

Me: That’s true. What do you think, Erik? Do you think she will be able to do it? Do you have any hope for her? Slow learner? I’m kidding.

Erik: Well, if I didn’t have hope, I wouldn’t be working with her! Of course she can do it. She just needs to get out of that stubborn mindset and stop trying to control everything.

Emanuelle: I’m an Aries. It’s just part of who I am. I like to be in control.

Me: I get it. I’m a Taurus with Aries on the cusp so I got both of those. Hey, Erik, what are we going to talk about today? I hear you want to talk about oxygen, breathing. That’s kinda important. I will say this: there are two things that I’m really bad about; drinking water, I mean drinking any fluids, well, except my glass of wine, I always do that and breathing. Sometimes I realize, ‘Wow, I’m not breathing,’ but yes, tell us what you need us to know. I don’t have any questions, no lists, so it’ll be open mike night today.

Erik: Yes, open mike time. First of all, I love you, Mama ( blowing kisses)

Me: I love you, too.

Emanuelle: He’s kinda bouncy today. He’s pacing back and forth, so if you see my head going back and forth, I’m sorry.

Me: I hope you don’t get dizzy.

Emanuelle: I just always follow his energy for some reason. I don’t know why. Well, first of all, this oxygen theme came up because we were having a reading with a man called Bryan Johnson, a really cool man. He’s a healer who uses oxygen to heal people, and he uses those oxygen tanks to heal. He wanted to talk to Erik to see how he could improve things and how he could make it better, etc. and so after the reading, I was like, ‘Wow, that was pretty interesting. I didn’t know oxygen could do so much,’ and Erik was like, “Hey, we should put this in an interview, ”so that’s why he wanted to bring it forward and talk about not just oxygen, but breathing mostly.

Me: Oh yeah. I was forgetting to breath again.

Emma giggles.

Erik: Most people think breathing is just a way to transport oxygen into the body to provide the body with the physical oxygen that’s necessary for all the body functions because without oxygen the body gets ill and eventually dies. We need oxygen to have our body survive this planet, but, in another way, oxygen is also a way to transport and absorb subtle light energy. So the air and therefore also the oxygen that we breath in has its own aura or energy field. You might have heard of these names before, Mom, this metaphysical or universal energy, this life force that is really hidden in our breath that people sometimes call Prahna or Chi energy.

Me: Oh, okay. I’ve heard of that.

Erik: So oxygen, breathing is not just oxygen for our body but also subtle light energy that keeps the cells going and that give the energy to every itty bitty cell in our body to keep going, to stay alive.

Me: Yes. Now I’m totally aware of my breathing pattern.

Erik: Breathing nowadays is hard. We live in a world where there’s a lot of stress, a lot of anxieties and fears, and that causes people to breath very shallowly. But also the oxygen levels in the air have reduced dramatically.

Me: Oh, really?

Erik: So even if we breathe in very deeply, we’re still not getting as much oxygen in as we did a couple of thousand years ago. So what can we do? Well first of all, why is correct breathing so necessary? Well, we all know that our state of mind affects the way we breathe. For example, if we’re sad or frustrated, our breath tends to get very shallow and very fast, right? Our heart is racing; we’re breathing very fast and we’re not really getting the right amount of oxygen in that we need. Or if you look at it in another way, if you’re happy and you’re in a good place and are feeling peaceful, then our breath really becomes slower and goes a lot deeper. So just as our state of mind affects the way that we breathe, so does the way we breathe affect our state of mind. Our breathing is something that we can fully control. We have complete control over our breath so if we could slow it down and deepen it, then that could lead us to a more peaceful state of mind and to a more peaceful heart and soul.

Me: Okay, how can we do that?

Erik: It’s really about being aware of your breath. You know, Mom, how we discussed being aware of your thoughts, being mindful, being in the moment?

Me: Yes.

Erik: The same thing can be done with the breath. You really need to be aware. For example, let’s say you’re in a conflict or you’re having a bad day or something went wrong. The first thing you should do is tell yourself to stop a minute and breathe deeply in and out so you can calm down and be in a better mindset. This way we reduce our heart rate, our body gets more oxygen in and you’ill be able to think more clearly because if you don’t get enough oxygen in your brain, then we get even more frustrated. So it’s really about being aware, forcing yourself to stand still every now and then and ask yourself; “How am I breathing? Am I doing okay? Am I breathing too shallow? Should I take a few deep breaths?” It’s about breaking the daily routine, breaking your automatic pilot every now and then. You can do this every time you go to the bathroom. Take a few deep breaths in and out. Pick some steady times in your day when you can take a few moments, even if it’s only 3 minutes to stop what we do and take a few deep breaths in. That way we also bring our awareness to the Here and Now.

Me: That’s true.

Erik: That way we break the cycle of being on autopilot.

Emma says Erik is pacing back and forth like the energizer bunny.

Me: You’re going to have to take a Dramamine if he keeps doing that.

Erik: That’s how most people are, though. They walk around with this battery stuck up their butts, and they just keep going all day long.

Me: But I was hoping you weren’t going to say that we have to sit there and be constantly aware in every waking moment of our breathing because I couldn’t possibly do that. That’s just way too much work. I have this Apple watch, and they have this breathing app that reminds you of when to breathe. I took it off because it was so arrogant! ‘Don’t tell me when to breathe! I’ll decide when to breathe!’

Erik giggles,

Erik: No, you don’t have to be constantly aware of your breathing. Just pick a few times in the day when you bring your awareness to it, or if you’re really upset, sit down for a few minutes and just breathe. Make it a part of your routine to take some times during your day to stop and be aware of your breath, and what’s going to happen is you’re going to retrain your brain to breath correctly. With time, you’re going to retrain the brain to automatically think about your breathing without you thinking about it.

Me: Like I could say, ‘ Okay, every time I do the dishes or tell someone to do the dishes, every time I go to the bathroom, every time I brush my teeth, those are times that I can remember to breath like kill two birds with the same stone’ Wow, that’s a terrible saying, by the way.

Erik: Exactly. Just pick some moments that are comfortable for you, even when you do it when you go to bed. You’re already lying there anyway so you might as well do some breathing exercises; you might as well focus on it. Or if you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, just take some good deep breaths in and then blow all that air out. It’s going to de-stress you and make you feel more relaxed and heal your body. It’s going to provide more oxygen to the organs and therefore your body and your mind will feel better. So pick a few times and that will break your routine and really bring you to the Here and Now and at the same time providing your body with the right amount of oxygen that it needs.

Me: I really like that it does bring you to the Now.

Erik: Yes, that way you can do several things at the same time so that should be really up your ally, Mom.

He giggles.

Me: Okay.

Erik: You can scratch it off your lists.

Me: I know. My lists.

I show my list on a white index card.

Me: I have one on my iPhone, which I put on an index card and then I scratch things out when they’re done. (Reading my list) Cook ribs, take a bath, oh breathe. No, breathe is not there, but I put everything on there like, “do chores.”

Emma giggles.