March 9, 2019
I used to hear the words “just breathe”, and think…OK, what does that mean? It’s silly, really…just breathe? I’m already breathing. I’m always breathing. I can’t NOT breathe, at least not for long. It sounded kind of…out there, pseudo-spiritual, to me.
I learned about yogic breathing several years ago, and found it very helpful for insomnia. Along the way I began to use breathing-focus during stressful situations. At the eye specialist, the light of a thousand suns burning into my retinas (not literally, thankfully…it just seems that way), I turn to breath and focus on: in… out… in… out… I’m lying on the beach and my breath is the ocean tide moving in… out… in… out…
Meditation used to always seem out-there to me too, like, empty your mind? Don’t think about anything? Then I’m thinking about not-thinking-about-anything. Recently I realized that when I’m not doing anything, I’m “just” breathing. No matter what – asleep, awake, sitting quietly in a chair, lying in bed, if I’m doing nothing else, I’m “just breathing”. Sounds simple, but I take it so much for granted.
Another phrase I always thought was strange was “Remember to breathe”. Huh? How could you “forget” to breathe? Isn’t it involuntary? (Mostly?) Then I had a 75-year-old piano student who would hold his breath while playing. Once he got to longer pieces, I became concerned. We’d joke about me having to do CPR on him if he fainted. (His wife was always there, so she was designated for the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.) Finally I started writing “breathe” at several spots in his music book. Now, the phrase “remember to breathe” means something different – not actually “doing” it, but focusing on it.
Another facet of breathing is the concept of “inspiration”. Closely related to “respiration”, this is the taking-in of Spirit. Each inhalation invites life-giving Spirit to enter our souls; each exhalation allows us to let go of unnecessary burdens. Whatever our spiritual orientation, we can use this concept to accept life, love, and peace, and release toxic waste from our bodies and souls.
I know I’ll be facing some tough challenges soon. I will need to remember to focus on breath, as a tool to set my priorities – Job One is staying alive; to stay alive we need first to breathe, and later to take food, water, and shelter. When it gets right down to the very basic level, moment-by-moment, all we need is just to breathe.
Inner Voice 