Ode To Breathing

Remember the last time you had a stuffed nose? Both sides? All you wanted was to be able to breathe again: Right? This all important essential for life and enjoyable "past-time" is the center of this story. My inspiration (breathing in) of mind comes from a lyric from the Hollies, "Sometimes all I need is the air that I breath and to love you." The many you's available to be loved is still an ongoing mystery.

Transcript

Sometimes, I jump to the end of the tale or legend before I've had a chance to really develop and feel the sensations that shadow along with the storyline. The best are myths that have a legendary mystical vibration that keep you alive with a tingle. They take wispy words and weave a tapestry of thought and keep stirring it until it thickens and becomes reified into the reality of the present moment. Pulled along by spiritual gravity, Mere thoughts are transformed into a tangible form that you can reach out and touch. Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you. A lyric by the Hollies. The other day while I was sitting in writing class, I felt it. The sensations swooped down and around me as I was breathing. All that I felt, All that I was aware of, Was taking in the air and to love. It was all there in the expanding breath of air, Fulfilling in and of itself. At other times, There seemed to be a pull, A feeling that sometimes was missing. And that the air was not enough or not even present in my mind. But then there are these moments of being connected to the breath, To the very air itself. When I am truly connected, It is with the bright-eyed wonder of what could be. I become able to expand into my true self and my true calling to give my unique view of life and living in happiness. It begins with a simple storyline. Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you. The air which is always around, It's mostly taken for granted. It is so ubiquitous and common that it's almost oxymoronic to think it might ever be all that I need. However, We have all had that experience. Most likely when something or someone has taken our breath away and we are singularly focused on that long, Deep inhalation and slow, Smooth exhale. Try it right now as you're reading this. Imagine the stillness and awe at the top of a mountain. Imagine the face of your first love or the birth of a child. Let your eyes open wide and see beyond the physical forms in front of you. Gaze into your mind's eye. Within a very slow, Steady, Full breath as you imagine seeing and feeling that awe and wonder. Not quite there? Return to the story and go a bit deeper. What was going on at the top of the mountain? What was going on with your first love or the birth of a child? What had transpired prior to the awareness that the breath was so awesome and fulfilling? What did that breath feel like? Make up a story. In the mystical tradition of the Torah, This may be called Midrash. It is a deeper level beneath the surface storyline. Why is it sometimes there and other times not at all? Is the you another person? Is the you God? Is the you the voice in your head talking directly to you? Return again to the storyline and imagine the legend or allegory that it has grown out from. The similarity of all the animals that evolved out of the sea and have become dwellers on the land, They all breathe air. All of the air is shared over and over, In and out, For millennium. The energy of life is clothed in a molecule of oxygen breathed into your body and then released to give you life. Take in another slow, Deep breath. Gaze deeper, Sensing the aliveness carried by the breath. Sometimes when you remember or feel this energy, You rise to the mystical awareness that all you need, At least for this moment, Is the air that you breathe. And then you may feel the love for you.

Reviews

Thank you. Second meditation this morning on breathing! Clearly I needed it - very helpful.