# Breath > Breathing is the primary fundamental meditation and energization tool that centers one into the heart of all probable reality while stress first holds the breath and imagining a relaxed breathing cycle returns center - Canonical: https://sassani.app/topic/breath # Breath *A seated figure watches tidal-basin rings settle into one quiet central circle* In Bashar's teaching, breath is not merely a physiological necessity but the primary fundamental meditation and the body's energization tool. A deep, relaxed breath at the natural relaxed rate centers the breather into the heart of all probable reality and aligns them with the very pulse of the universe they are in. Breath is also presented as the first and simplest tool to reach for in moments of stress — because stress is precisely where the breath is usually held. > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) > — A Sudden Observable Shift (qa-8), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/a-sudden-observable-shift) ## Breath as the primary fundamental meditation Asked what he has to say about breathing, Bashar names it without hedging: "Breathing is the primary fundamental meditation." When you breathe deeply in a relaxed and calm state you are centering yourself into the idea of being at the center of all probable reality; sight becomes insight, and you align yourself with the very pulse of the particular universe you are in at any given moment. He frames a deep, relaxed breath at your normal relaxed rate — not a forced or exotic technique — as the practice, and he calls breath your "energization symbol, your energization tool." > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) The teaching is deliberately framed in non-medical, non-physiological terms. The point Bashar is making about breath is not a health claim but a centering-and-reality claim: breath is the lever by which the breather returns to the center of their own version of reality. ## The first thing stress does is hold the breath; the first thing you can do is breathe In a separate exchange about asthma and self-expression, Bashar points out a universal pattern: the first thing every body does when tension or stress hits is to hold the breath. The remedy follows directly — the first thing to do to move through the tension is to breathe. "Breath will get you farther than you think." > — A Sudden Observable Shift (qa-8), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/a-sudden-observable-shift) The same session connects this to asthma in particular. Bashar describes most individuals experiencing asthma as dealing with self-expression issues, and frames reclaiming self-expression — oxygenating yourself, supporting yourself, breathing life into who you are — as what diminishes any shortness of breath. The session does not direct anyone away from medical care; it adds a complementary frame in which the body's breathing and the person's willingness to express themselves are treated as aspects of one whole. > — A Sudden Observable Shift (qa-7), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/a-sudden-observable-shift) ## Imagining the breath of a calm state brings you back to center Bashar's tool for anxiety is portable: anytime you find yourself in a situation where you feel anxious, replicate in imagination the breathing cycle you remember from a relaxed state. Invoke that breathing cycle through the imagination, and it will always bring you back to center — always. The imagination is doing the work here; the actual breath is the embodied version of the remembered calm state. > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) He adds a related observation: when you breathe in this energized, aligned way, you may also find yourself sleeping less and eating less, because you are drawing sustenance from the primal energy of creation itself. This is offered as an observed tendency within the framework of the teaching, not as a directive to use breath as a substitute for food, sleep, or medical care. > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) ## The laughter permission slip when breath pauses in meditation A short exchange addresses a meditator who reaches a still point where, after exhaling, it feels more comfortable not to inhale again — and who worries about harming themselves. Bashar's reply is reassuring and practical: when you need to inhale, you will. He calls the stillness a gateway the person is processing, and offers laughter as the simplest permission slip: recognize the humor in finding inhalation "too much trouble," laugh, and your breathing will be back on track. Laughter will take you where you wish to go in your discoveries. > — Meditation Breathing And Holding Breath (qa-1), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/meditation-breathing-and-holding-breath) ## Practical implications What Bashar says about breath translates into a small, repeatable practice rather than a doctrine: Breathe at your own normal relaxed rate. The instruction is not a special technique but a return to the deep, relaxed breath that is already natural to you. > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) When stress arrives, breathe first. Because the automatic response to tension is to hold the breath, the first deliberate remedy is to breathe; do not wait to solve the situation before restoring the breath. > — A Sudden Observable Shift (qa-8), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/a-sudden-observable-shift) Use imagination to invoke calm breathing. In anxiety, replicate the breathing cycle you remember from a relaxed state; Bashar states plainly that this will always bring you back to center. > — The Golden Gate (text), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/the-golden-gate) Treat stillness as a gateway, and let laughter restart the breath. In meditation, a pause in the breath is not dangerous; when you need to breathe, you will. Laughter is the permission slip that returns the rhythm. > — Meditation Breathing And Holding Breath (qa-1), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/meditation-breathing-and-holding-breath) Honor the medical frame. Bashar's framing of breath as energization and centering is complementary to, not a replacement for, medical care for respiratory conditions. The asthma exchange explicitly treats the body's breathing and the person's self-expression as one whole without directing anyone away from other care. > — A Sudden Observable Shift (qa-7), [Source](https://sassani.app/source-transmissions/a-sudden-observable-shift) ## Representative passages Breathing is the primary fundamental meditation. Allow yourself to know that when you breathe deeply in a relaxed and calm state, you are centering yourself into the idea of being at the center of all probable reality. Allow yourself to know you are regenerating when you breathe. You are actually aligning yourself with the very pulse of the particular universe you are in at any given moment.— Bashar, What is the first thing you do when tension hits, when stress fills your life? Hold your breath. That's the first thing all of you do. Therefore, the first thing you need to do to go through the tension is breathe. Breath will get you farther than you think.— Bashar, When you need to inhale, you will. It is a gateway to something. When you are in your meditative state and you find yourself exhaling and find it just too much trouble to inhale, I would suggest that you allow yourself to recognize the humor in that situation and laugh, and your breathing will be back on track. The laughter will take you where you wish to go in your discoveries.— Bashar, ## Related - [Meditation](https://sassani.app/topic/meditation) - [Excitement](https://sassani.app/topic/excitement) - [State of Being](https://sassani.app/topic/state-of-being) - [Essence vs Ego](https://sassani.app/topic/essence-versus-ego) Markdown twin of https://sassani.app/topic/breath. The HTML page is the source of truth.