The Breath Of Winter (No Music)

It always serves us to spend time with our breath. It sustains & nurtures us, strengthens us, & gives us peace. And it is only in winter that we can see our breath. But breath is more than chemistry, more even than life itself. It is a coupling of our bodies with the bodies of all living things, a constant reminder that we are part of a greater whole, each of us is a significant part of that assembly, each of us with the power to change the world around us. (readings from The Radiance Sutras)

Transcript

Welcome. Perhaps it has happened more slowly in this year than in other years, But winter has begun to come upon us. The rustling of leaves now comes from around our feet, Not from above our heads. Days are shorter, Nights are longer, And the arc of the sun stays low in the sky, Making the angle of the light that sustains us lower, Shining into windows, Into forests, Illuminating spaces the high, Bright sun of summer lost in shadow. We each seek an accommodation in our own ways with the change in season. Cats and dogs grow more fur, Measuring the change in their bodies. Our changes are perhaps more subtle. We rearrange closets, Exchanging lightness for heaviness. What we nourish ourselves with changes. Food becomes hardier, Slower cooking. We begin to hunker down. But our main source of nourishment, Our breath, Remains constant. It flows in and out hundreds, Then thousands, Then tens of thousands of times, And then flows more. Muscles contracting and releasing with fearless regularity because it is what they do, Almost as if they know the stakes of their actions. It is in winter that our breath becomes fully sensual. In any season we can feel the touch of our breath. We can feel it as we blow on hot food. We can feel the touch of breath as we huff and puff on our hands to warm them. In any season we can apprehend the smell of our breath. In any season we can hear our breath, Soft and quiet, Or loud and harsh. We can always taste the air that fills us. A subtle taste perhaps, But there nonetheless. But it is only in winter that we can sense our breath with sight. Our breath becomes not just the touch of a breeze or a smell of sound or a taste, But a vision. We exhale into crisp cold air and our breath becomes visible. We can see it spread. We can see it disperse, Slowly losing the ways in which we have marked it and returning to join the atmosphere of Earth. This is Sutra 41. Breath is where the rhythms of life turn into each other, The eternal exchange. Pour one breath into the other, Out breath into in breath, Into the out breath. Awaken to equanimity. Let peace in the play of opposites. If it serves, I invite you to a imagine yourself standing outside on a cold winter's day, Well bundled of course. Perhaps the sun is low and the shadows are beginning to deepen. Or perhaps you stand in a diminished midday. Perhaps you're bringing in wood for a fire. Perhaps provisions for a week of meals. Maybe simply watching the sun fade in the coming of night. When you move your feet, You hear the crackle of frozen leaves and grass beneath you. Imagine your inhales, Each drawing in the bracing winter air. You can feel the coldness in your nostrils. You can smell nature in your breath. You can taste what winter has allowed to remain airborne. You can hear the air entering your body, Hear it leaving. Imagine the air in your lungs, The process of separating oxygen from the air we inhale, The process we call inspiration. Then the process of adding carbon dioxide to the air and letting it go, The exhale which we call expiration. Thoughts in the air we breathe are exchanged in this cycle of respiration. But something else also transpires. Our bodies share their warmth and their moisture. We warm the air before we send it back to the world. We add moisture to it before we return it to the atmosphere. It is this damp warming that allows us to see our breath. To see the fog it creates as the air you have borrowed and transformed is returned to its source. A bright cloud of fog, The sun glinting from tiny crystals of ice formed from the moisture of your body. Maybe right now your imagination can conjure a winter chill you might feel. As you might feel a chill however well bundled while standing in the cold watching the wind, Winter, Sun slowly sink. But perhaps if only for a moment you can also perceive this visible incarnation of the utter magic of breath. This sublime cloud of your breath floating freely in front of your eyes. This palpable symbol of your ability to change the world around you. Your small but essential impact on all of nature made manifest right before your eyes. Can you for a few moments rejoice in the passage of your breath? Can you for a few moments feel the power of your body? Feel the most intimate connection of your body with our planet and all the life upon it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sutra 40 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. As long as there is life, There is breath. My life, Your life, Our lives, Human life, The lives of all the other animals that crawl and walk and swim and fly are all sustained by breath. If there are lives beyond this blue and white orb on which we travel, They too will breathe. Perhaps they breathe differently, Perhaps they breathe some other atmosphere, But they too breathe. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sutra 42 With one sweep of attention, Gather in the whole universe and remember it as your body of bliss. The deep rhythms of life pulsating stir an ambrosia flowing and overflowing everywhere. Drink the nectar and all-pervading joy from the radiant cup that is this very body. Sutra 42 Sutra 42 Sutra 42 Sutra 42 Sutra 42 It always serves us well to spend some time with our breath. It is our oldest relationship. It sustains and nurtures us, Strengthens us and gives us peace. But it is more than basic chemistry, More even than life itself. It is a coupling of our bodies with the bodies of all things. It is a constant reminder that we are part of a greater whole, That each of us is a significant part of that assembly, That each of us has the power to change the world around us, That we do it unconsciously with each cycle of respiration. Perhaps breath can be a reminder to you that we also have the power to make change consciously and that from small changes larger narratives are born and unfold. Sutra 42 Sutra 42 For the next few months you might choose to allow yourself to be reminded of your power each time you exhale into the frosty winter air. You might allow that crystalline cloud, That pellucid vision to be a signifier of your strength, An attestation of your power made manifest. If your imagination still has you out in the cold, You might now make your way back indoors before the light is entirely gone. You can always go back out later to warm the air and see the stars. For now you might find yourself back in your room, Perhaps with a measure of peace, Perhaps with a heightened recognition of your own power. Welcome back y'all.