Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68174
ILSE MIDDENDORF good restaurants, champagne, theater, travels, and shopping. She could laugh at herself and was a good sport, especially when a group of us dared to put on skits depicting her during our breath training programs. Playfully, we dramatized her love for beautiful clothes by putting on a fashion show with scarves sweeping through the air. We acted out Middendorf's words: "Breath comes ... it goes … and in the pause we wait until …" We stayed in the pause a very long time, standing in a line, before allowing breath to move us further. Our graceful teacher laughed and laughed, and so did we. I remember Middendorf's last trip to the Bay area in 2004. She was excited about a recent World Qi Gong Conference at which she had presented breathexperience. She had decided to create an International Congress for breathexperience the following spring in Berlin. At 95, it would be her last presentation to a large group. By now, there were an estimated 1,500 Middendorf practitioners across the globe. HER TRUE LOVE Although Middendorf was married twice, her true marriage was to breath and its development. However, in a letter of thanks to many who had sent birthday wishes for her 98th birthday (September 21, 2008), she recognized the need for living in a true partnership with another person and with the Divine. She wrote, "This is the highest partnership in human life … The leading force is breath." Just five months before she passed, Middendorf said to a colleague and friend at her Berlin home, "Breath wants to live. It needs to be connected and brought to life in the world so it can stay alive. It will die if it stays only within the students of breath which always will be just a very small group." "Breath wants to live. It needs to be connected and brought to life in the world so it can stay alive. It will die if it stays only within the students of breath, which always will be just a very small group." IIse Middendorf Only months before she died, Middendorf wrote to me about my book, River of Breath (iUniverse, 2008). "I particularly like the poems which are also messages inspiring the reader to sense themselves and think about their responses," she wrote. "You have produced a direct hit. People will become interested in [breathexperience] more and more because they start to understand what in the beginning was more difficult for them. For me, life has taken a big turn," she continued. "I have difficulty because ... food no longer nourishes me. Therefore I have lost weight to my bones. However, I have courage, because I have dealt a lot with my soul. If I can find my strength in the greater power, every breath enters every cell, enlivens them, and even gives me a piece of happiness and light-heartedness. With much joy, I still think of our nice journeys ... when you came to visit me with Juerg in Berlin, as well as the American times. I embrace you warmly, no day goes by that I forget you, and I wish you the best of this life." I was moved by Middendorf's generosity in her note, inspired by her authenticity and depth, and touched that she shared this special time of being so close to death. Thank you, Ilse. You have left a beautiful gift for us to continue to grow and explore. internationally recognized teacher-trainer of Middendorf Breathexperience. She is the author of several books and articles including River of Breath (iUniverse, 2008). Biestman's 50-year career includes educating students of all ages, professional consulting, and medical research collaboration. She and her husband of 57 years live in Sausalito and Sonoma, California. For more information, visit www.breathexperiencemargot. com and www.breathexperience.com. Margot Biestman, MA, is an artist and connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 75