You’re doing it as we speak
Spoiler alert. This is going to contain a message that you have probably already heard but didn’t think mattered very much. As it turns out, this is one of the most foundational understandings all humans can have, and its simplicity encourages us not to think of it as consequential. Last month I told you about a fundamental secret. You have the ability to get your own ass out of any chair but may be waiting on something completely foreign to help you to do so. This month, it’s time to shock you with a whole new truth. Your breathing is where life all begins and ends. You are already doubting its importance because you knew that. Smarty-pants. Physically, your first breath and your last breath are certainties. You were present for the first breath but can’t remember it. You will also be present for the last one. Most of us just don’t know when. So, we will focus on the middle ones. You are breathing right now without any real notice. It just happens. You breathe while you sleep, read, eat, exercise, kiss and stare at your phone. This easy stuff trips me up. It’s so easy that it is taken for granted. Until you have a cold, are underwater, nervous or in a state where it ups your attention. Put your fingers on your nose and squeeze, cutting off the flow. The tiniest act can stop life. Maybe that helps to get attention. For now, let’s just promise to give more respect to our own ability to control our breathing. Basic life. It’s ours.
You are Extraordinary!
Week 11: Air is everywhere
In self-coaching, the continuing task is to discover ways that provide options to loving life. Breathing is taken for granted because it is on automatic. Noticing how beautiful it is to breathe is an ongoing task for me and not just in meditation. My practice does not count breaths, but it certainly focuses on the robust nature of their movement while I listen to the guide’s words. Breathing should have one of those kicky videos that teach government functions. But counterintuitively it keeps its workings quietly in the background just daring me to remember how vital it is to me. Can you find a way to take a deep breath even when it isn’t an emergency?
