Bret Lyon offers Body, Breath and Being Reichian Therapy.

Imagine you are lost in the forest in the middle of winter. There is snow on the ground and it's getting dark. The cold starts to sap all your strength. With trembling hands and using all your energy, you manage to make a small fire and huddle before it. As you sit there, barely keeping from freezing, you notice something not too far away. Like a light wisp of smoke. Risking the fire's warmth, you get up and head towards it. Suddenly, you feel a trace of warmth in the air. You move more quickly now. You feel steam rising from a thermal pool. Your whole body shudders with relief.

It may seem very unlikely, stumbling on a thermal pool in the midst of danger. But actually the thermal pool is inside of each of us. It is the energy center of our body, called the dan tien or the hara, the center of chi. It exists within the body and it can be found by tuning into the sensations in the body. And just as an actual thermal pool is connected through vents in the earth to the source of heat in the center of the earth - and to all the other thermal pools that ultimately draw their heat from that center, so our source within is connected to the ultimate source and to all of life.

Building a fire is survival. It takes a lot of doing. It is a particularly human accomplishment - and an incredibly valuable one. Finding a pool is a miracle, a gift. If we find a thermal pool, we don't have to "do" anymore. Survival is no longer an issue. We can just be.

When we are by the pool, we begin a very different type of journey from the outer journey we were on initially. This journey is a journey of allowing and acceptance, rather than one of striving and accomplishments. We need to surrender to the energy and let it flow through us, let it move us and shape us. We are not trained for this. Society has geared us to survive in the freezing cold, not enjoy ourselves by the pool.

Not only can the skill of opening and relaxing bring us all the pleasure we can get from this warm, wonderful heat. It can also rejuvenate us, giving us the resources to meet the next challenge, when it comes. The pool becomes a resource, helping us store up energy for the rest of our trip

When morning comes, it may be time to leave the pool and go on with our journey - refreshed and rejuvenated. In the cold light of day, however, the time by the pool may begin to seem like a hallucination, a fantasy. Or we may think the pool was only important at that moment, not realizing how much value we would get by experiencing it on a regular basis. Finally, we may remember the pool, realize how valuable it was, and still not be able to find our way back.

There is a process, however, a very simple, natural process which can lead us to the pool of energy, help us get maximal benefit from it, and then lead us back to it again and again. That process is full, free breathing. When we breathe fully and freely, we naturally connect with our center, our source.

I have spent many years helping people breathe more fully.

I am always struck by how simple and direct my work is, and yet how massive is the result. Now I realize that is because the pool does the work of giving, the student does the work of receiving. I merely serve as a guide, providing reassurance and direction - and company. I track them closely, as a loving companion - walking the path with them, just a little bit behind. And I help them find their way back to the pool, time after time.

The more we experience the pool, the easier it becomes to access it. We begin to take it with us. We learn to stay in contact with it even as we are engaged in surviving, achieving and accomplishing. We begin to live with a sense of flow, pleasure and well-being. Even in the dark times, we sense the light. Even in the cold, we sense the heat.