I think so too. Your body was doing its best to dump all that crap he was dishing out. Bronchitis is my 'stress disease'. I always need antibiotics, and it seems to drag on forever. I went through a very stressful period last year, and I just backed off of everything. One more little thing could have brought it on. It's miserable. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have something like that go on forever.
I'm thinking that by doing everything you can to strengthen your lungs, you won't feel so much pain when people are thoughtless or insensitive. I find that thought reassuring for dealing with my own breathing issues, by addressing body and emotions.
Buddhism isn't something I choose for myself. I'm more of a Taoist. It is a much more gentle path. There is no striving, only allowing.
I wrote the guy who initially told me about the lungs. This is what he had to say:
### According to oriental medicine, grief is the emotion for lungs. The sound is wailing (which can sound a lot like deep laughing - interesting huh?). I do believe that breathing exercises can make a difference. Many times when people begin breath training, grief is the primary emotion that manifests to be processed. For this reason I suggest getting with someone that can help the process. My friend %%%% is doing a one day breathwork workshop Saturday the 19th. It is excellent for working on grief. You can also get with the rebirthing breathwork community. They try to do a workshop a month, and they are also very supportive. Aerobic exercise is good too - not just for the muscle and heart conditioning - but because it makes you use your breathing apparatus. The advantage here is you can burn off excess energy that may also be stored with grief, anger and frustration. The neurochemical changes that happen in aerobic exercise can also shift the balance from down to up. If you want a simple breath exercise, buy a couple bags of balloons. Blow them up until they burst. Blow them all up one at a time as quick as you can until they are all gone. The fuller they get, the harder you have to work. That's the exercise part. The loud noise when they explode helps to break up blockages in your energy field close to the chest. It will also be some fun and empowering at the same time. The one thing about slow, deep, meditative breathing, is it takes a long time. It works, but very slowly and subtlety. You need something more vigorous to break the old energy cycle and create a new energy cycle. There are a few breathing videos on youtube, but there aren't any I really recommend without further instruction or guidance. You could try them though. Look for warrior breath or upper chest breathing. Diaphragm breathing is not the right style for this goal.
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