Rooted in thirty-five years of experience, Dennis Dean has shared the practice of yoga nationally and internationally, founding and guiding four yoga shalas along the way. A lifelong reader and writer, he has been publishing newsletters since 1994, offering reflections that weave together philosophy, practice, and lived experience. At 65, he remains passionately committed to cultivating his pedagogical skills and continuing the growth that has shaped his decades of practice—even when it requires shedding the skin of ingrained or indoctrinated perceptions to fully embrace new ones.
The above photo of me standing at the base of an uprooted redwood in Humboldt just a few weeks ago seems to do a great job of showing scale. But with a little imagination, it's not too difficult to see as much more. What looks like a tangle of roots is closer to a lung turned inside out (especially if you're a pranayama teacher:) — the same basic exchange is happening in that soil that's happening in your chest right now.
Here's how it works: you inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. A tree does the reverse. It pulls CO2 in through its leaves, splits it apart using sunlight and chlorophyll, keeps the carbon to build itself — trunk, bark, root — and releases the oxygen back out. A single mature tree absorbs somewhere north of 48 pounds of CO2 a year and releases oxygen in return. A redwood, given centuries instead of decades, does this at a different order of magnitude entirely — a coastal redwood can lock away roughly 250 tons of carbon over its lifespan, most of it held in that thick, fire-resistant bark. Stand at the base of one of those root systems, the way I did, and you're looking at two and a half centuries of exhaled breath made solid.
Every fifth breath you take, on average, is built from oxygen a tree released. You are, quite plainly, made partly of what trees exhale, and they are quite plainly built partly of what you exhale. The "atmosphere" is just the name we give to the shared lung between species.
Richard Powers spent the length of The Overstory making the same case in narrative form — that trees aren't scenery for the human plot, they're characters running their own vast, patient timeline underneath ours, communicating and cooperating in ways we're only beginning to understand. The Secret Language of Trees covers similar ground from the documentary side: the mycorrhizal networks fungi build between root systems, letting trees share carbon, water, and warning signals with neighbors — even neighbors of different species. A forest, seen this way, stops being a collection of individual trees and starts looking like a single loosely-federated organism, trading resources underground the same way your body trades oxygen for CO2 with the world above it.
What stopped me at that beautiful fallen giant was its size. But it was soon to become more about the timeline that it represents. That root system was likely doing this quiet trade of gases with the atmosphere before my grandparents were born, and it kept doing it, invisibly, every single day, without applause, without effort, without anyone noticing — until it fell over and finally became visible enough for a tourist with a camera to stand in front of it.
That's most of what actually keeps us alive: exchanges too slow and too constant to register as events. Breath is one of the few of these you can actually feel happening, if you slow down enough to pay attention to it. Which might be the entire case for prāṇāyāma in one sentence — not controlling your breath, but noticing that you're already in a centuries-long conversation with something much older and much larger than you, and it's your turn to answer. Much love, Dennis
The Hard Wired is a term I use to represent people (authors, thought leaders...), subjects, places etc. that I tap into on a regular basis and most likely will go to see in person or already have...
These are three of the High Prana crazy wild places I'm gearing up to visit: The wildest, most otherworldly place on the planet to me is Socotra Island, Yemen. Cut off from mainland Africa millions of years in the past, it hosts bizarre flora found absolutely nowhere else on Earth, such as the umbrella-like Dragon’s Blood Trees and alien-looking Bottle Trees. It is an untouched, rugged wonderland that truly looks like stepping onto another planet. For something a bit more accessible to scratch my "wild and crazy" itch, I'm considering these extreme locations as well:
Jellyfish Lake (Palau): A marine lake where you can safely swim surrounded by millions of stingless golden jellyfish. It is a surreal, two-hour flight from the Philippines.
Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia): The world's largest salt flat. During the rainy season, the water turns it into a massive, flawless mirror, allowing you to walk directly in the clouds.
Between The Covers
This weeks Between The Covers book Shout Out is built right into the above featured editorial.
The Pranasphere Merch
Get it here: The Pranasphere Vintage Hat I've seen this symbol welcome thousands of students through my studio doors over the years. Three Aum symbols together in the Enso (円相) fashion—has a special place in my heart. A north star through transitions, through changes, through growth. If you've been part of this journey, you know what it means. If you're just finding us, welcome. The Triple Aum: The Buddha, The Dharma and The Sangha. Enso (円相): The Zen Circle
The Pranasphere Vintage Hat
Special Products by Dennis Dean
Dennis is master craftsman and a true entrepreneur. Many of his products are handmade by him or he has provided direct stewardship in the design & manufacturing of the product.. Enjoy
Past Newsletters to review & share...
Know you are the light, Dennis
About The Sunday Pranasphere newsletter: You are receiving a newsletter that is part of an ecosystem called The Pranasphere at Pranayama.com. All modalities within The Pranasphere, including this newsletter, are designed to deepen our understanding of how we are inherently connected. Rather than emphasizing difference, we focus on shared patterns of experience, with the intention of counter balancing modern media’s aggressive narratives that often amplify fear and separation.
Though the subjects may differ—culture, science, nature, philosophy, literature, lived experience, and the ways in which they are delivered (i.e., newsletter, podcast, visual arts, listening practices, embodied somatic movement, Metta Meditation)—they are gathered to deepen our shared understanding of life-force literacy, and how becoming educated in the language of the breath reveals how a lifetime of experience is held in the body and expressed in the present moment.
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Dennis Dean
Senior teacher, Author.
Rooted in thirty-five years of experience, Dennis Dean has shared the practice of yoga nationally and internationally, founding and guiding four yoga shalas along the way. A lifelong reader and writer, he has been publishing newsletters since 1994, offering reflections that weave together philosophy, practice, and lived experience. At 65, he remains passionately committed to cultivating his pedagogical skills and continuing the growth that has shaped his decades of practice—even when it requires shedding the skin of ingrained or indoctrinated perceptions to fully embrace new ones.
The Sunday Pranasphere The Biology of Thaumazein | Richard Freeman Pema Chodron in her youth. The Biology of Thaumazein: explores the fascinating intersection where the ancient Greek idea of profound wonder triggers deep thought & philosophy. Featured Lesson: The Biology of ThaumazeinThis Week’s Sponsor: Richard FreemanBetween The CoversOne Hundred Years of Solitude Hi Friend, After my swim in the ocean at first light this morning, I found myself pondering one of Aristotle's quotes, "For it...
The Sunday Pranasphere The Clock Hiding Inside the Compass | Leigha Nicole The Clock Hiding Inside the Compass:"the same instrument doing two jobs at once — one hand pointing toward direction, the other quietly keeping time." Featured Lesson: The Clock Hiding Inside the CompassThis Week’s Sponsor: Leigha NicoleBetween The CoversAtomic Habits and The Next Conversation The Clock Hiding Inside the Compass “the same instrument doing two jobs at once — one hand pointing toward direction, the other...
2Rt Mate Tuesday My Weekly Dispatch On the road again.. Just got back a few days ago from road trip. Traveled up the California Coast to Bandon, Oregon where I dropped off a friend that had been traveling with me. He has a house and quite a bit of land there, so the timing was perfect for him to jump in the truck with me & trade stories...From there, I continued up the coast of Oregon then over Bend, Oregon to help a friend troubleshoot the ins and outs of buying a home. Then on to Missoula,...