Whole and Connected—A Direction for My Life

by Alexis Mulhauser

When practicing a Self-Breema exercise, I experience both giving and receiving touch as my hand connects to my body. As I brush, tap, lean, or hold, Breema teaches me to move with the Nine Principles of Harmony. Instead of the thought, “I should be doing this in a particular way,” I am informed through a direct relationship with principles such as No Force, Body Comfortable, and No Judgment. The principles direct me to a process of “how I am” while engaged in an activity. I learn how to be myself. I experience the brushing with all of me.

The Nine Principles of Harmony, which are central to Breema’s philosophy, are the tools that make practicing Self-Breema unique. When practicing the exercises, each one of the principles supports me to stay with a quality of touch that invites me to be present. Single Moment/Single Activity helps me to not get caught in the past and future but to be where I am. No Force supports me to stay with what I am doing, rather than getting lost in a thought of what I’d like to experience. By brushing down my arm with No Hurry/No Pause, it has a different quality than if I brush down the arm to get to the hand. Full Participation reminds me to include my whole body, my thoughts, and my feelings as I practice simply holding my toes or tapping on my feet. Firmness and Gentleness brings me to my weight and my breath, both grounding and relaxing me without an added expectation to “do.”

Giving and receiving simultaneously, I am connected to something inside myself that knows the difference between how I normally live my life in the past and future—separated from what is meaningful; and the direction in which I wish to live my life—whole and connected. When I am present with the activity of my body, I’m not elsewhere. I’m not mechanical. An experience of life supporting life invites a new relationship to what is possible in my life when I am present.

Alexis Mulhauser has 20 years of experience studying and teaching movement, including Breema, yoga, martial arts, and dance. As a staff Instructor at the Breema Center in Oakland, CA, she enjoys an international teaching schedule. Join Alexis in Portland, Oregon for a weekend workshop, along with Jon Schreiber and Breema Instructors from the Pacific Northwest, December 2-4. For information, visit breema.info/pdx.