The Transformative Power of Breath: Music, Alternative Therapy, and Medieval Practices of Contemplation
Palgrave studies in literature, science and medicine January 1, 2021 Denis Renevey 2 citations
Because historical records do not describe how medieval English mystics used breathing during their contemplative exercises, this essay turns to modern breathing practices advocated by brass instrument teachers Arnold Jacobs and Michel Ricquier and by proponents of Holotropic Breathwork, which itself draws on pranayama. The evidence from these modern sources, when applied to the short-word contemplative exercises encouraged by fourteenth-century mystics, offers groundbreaking insight into the transformative role of breath in medieval contemplation.