The experience of breathing: considerations from a phenomenology of the lived body

Abstract

The function of respiration, beyond its physiological explanation, constitutes a basic human experience and a fundamental mode of behavior. Following, first, the work of Erwin Straus, in the context of his anthropology and phenomenological psychology, we can conclude that the immemorial experience of breathing has three fundamental aspects or facets that will be outlined in our work: a) participation and exchange (connection of the individual with the totality); b) power and weakness (related to the emission of the voice); and c) attraction and repulsion (linked to the sense of smell). In addition to Straus’s approach, we will also refer to the work of the phenomenologist Drew Leder, who points to breathing as a phenomenon that hinges on the conscious and the unconscious; between the volunteer and the volunteer; between movement and stillness; and also between the visible and the invisible. Finally, we will mention the phenomenology of «breathlessness» developed by Havi Carel from the perspective of the lived illness, which highlights the extent to which a change in basic body function alters the main relationships of personal existence.

Keywords: experience of breathing, lived body, obstacle body, phenomenology, disease.