Calm Breath, Calm Mind: A Guide to the Healing Power of Breath

Discover ancient Tibetan breath practices for calming your mind and improving your health in this plain-English guide. <p/>Over millennia, many Eastern traditions have developed practices that use the powerful healing energy of breath to treat physical, emotional, and mental problems. In Chinese, this energy is called chi; in Indian Sanskrit it is called prana; and in Tibetan it is called lung. <p/> Lung is life-giving energy that moves through our bodies. A lack or imbalance of lung can create illnesses of body and mind or cause emotional struggles such as confusion, anger, and sadness. In this book, Geshe YongDong Losar, a scholar and monk in the ancient Bön tradition of Tibet, guides us through time-tested practices to help balance our lung. His deep knowledge--garnered through years of study and practice--renders the practices simple and achievable, creating a clear path for us toward greater calmness, strength, and clarity. <p/> "Over and over I have personally witnessed, both in myself and in my students, the breath's clear potential to heal and deeply transform lives. I truly believe that in the future such practices will play an important role as a medicine for preventing and treating physical, emotional, and mental maladies. I am glad that Geshe YongDong is making these practices widely available, and I'm sure that by doing so, he is bringing benefit to countless lives."
--from the foreword by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Geshe YongDong Losar (Geshela) is a Tibetan Bön lama, or spiritual teacher, in the Yungdrung Bön lineage, which is rooted in the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Himalayas. He lives in Courtenay, British Columbia, where he established and directs Sherab Chamma Ling, the only Tibetan Bön Buddhist center in Canada. He teaches in many centers and universities around the world and has also founded the Bon Da Ling center in Costa Rica. <p/> Geshe YongDong has published several books in Tibetan and is an active member of Chiling Bon Tsok, the International Bon Lamas Association, and the International Tibetan Non-Sectarian Religious Association. He is cherished by students and colleagues for his calm and loving manner, his humor and humility, and his tireless dedication to the Dharma and the ultimate liberation of hearts and minds. <p/> Geshe YongDong was born in 1969 in the Ngawa County of Amdo in northeastern Tibet. As a boy, his desire to become a monk was intensified by the death of his mother, the death of his grandmother, and the three years he spent alone in the harsh Himalayan mountains tending a flock of over six hundred sheep for his uncle. At the age of thirteen his uncle finally allowed him to enter the Nangzhig Monastery in Amdo, the largest Bon monastery in Tibet, where he studied under the venerable master Geshe Wako Gyaltsen, Yongdzin Yeshe Gyaltsen, and Jetsun Namkha Tsultrim. <p/> Eleven years later, after completing specialized training in all aspects of the Dharma, he was awarded the geshe degree, an academic achievement of the highest order, similar to a Western PhD in theology. He escaped Tibet soon after, settling in India where he had the honor of receiving teachings from three of the most eminent spiritual leaders of our time: His Holiness the Dalai Lama; His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin, the spiritual leader of Bön; and His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the senior teacher and lineage holder of Bön. <p/> Geshe YongDong spent another three years studying at Sera Monastic University in India before relocating to Canada.<br /><br /><p/>Bernadette Wyton has received teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the late 33rd Menri Trizin, Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung, and His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, and remains a grateful witness to the clarity of their wisdom, the excellence of their teachings, and the blessing that flows through them for the benefit of all. <p/>Bernadette met Geshe YongDong in 2002 while he was teaching a course on meditation at the college in her hometown of Port Alberni, British Columbia. She has been his student ever since and has served as his writing assistant for the last ten years. <p/> Bernadette has a BSc in marine biology and has worked in that field and in many other areas of environmental protection, including airshed management, forest practices, and the global impact of oil and gas extraction. She lives with her husband on Vancouver Island, where they enjoy the ocean, growing their own food, and being with their children and grandchildren.<br /><br />Founder and spiritual director of Ligmincha International, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is a respected and beloved teacher and meditation master in the Bön tradition of Tibet. He has students in more than twenty-five countries, teaches around the world and reaches thousands of students through his online programs. Trained as a Bön monk, Rinpoche now lives as a householder, allowing him to more fully relate to the needs and concerns of his students. Known for the depth of his wisdom and his unshakeable commitment to helping students recognize their true nature, he is the author of many books and online courses.