Breath: Not so Overrated - Day 11

(Credits - BuddhistDoor)

I'm feeling the call to go back to simpler days where there is joy and presence in each moment, in each movement, in each sensation, in each sound, in each word, and in each thought. The chaos and busyness of the world is a cry for help to treat the chaos, not as something unmanageable, but to breathe into every thought/sensation of chaotic anxiety as it comes up.

Breath creates space in your mind, in your body, and as a result, creates space itself. Claiming your own space in chaos is, therefore, something that starts with your breath, and it is your breath that gives you the integrity to stand up with a straight spine, literally and figuratively. Failing to pause between tasks, movements, thoughts, or actions to take in a deep breath is a deep injustice to ourselves, and it is no wonder that many of us live in constant fear or anxiety or some form of a disorder, that paralyzes our ability to take breaks. We end up getting addicted to work, alcohol, sex, money, social status, drugs, life optimization drugs, or even pain. Addiction to any substance, be it work, pleasure, or any other substance is correlated with the inability to pause, to breathe in, breathe out, and then move along. There is no gap that we provide ourselves with, no break where we can truly connect with the essential act of breathing. We find the need to be constantly consuming, constantly producing, constantly abusing (drugs), constantly thinking, constantly working, constantly pursuing pleasure, and the list goes on.

The moment that we run out of things to do, we readily find another preoccupation. However, what about breathing, deeply? Is there no time in the day for that? I think we can all benefit from a few moments of deep breathing and just a few extra breaths in the day, whenever you can remember to take one. You'll see that as you start to breathe properly, you might realize that you tend to deny yourself this natural healing gift every single day in every single moment because at the core, you don't believe you deserve it, and because there's always something more important than it; for example, an anxious thought, an item on your to-do list, a work task, a structured exercise routine, a social obligation, a religious obligation, or anything you can think of. However, let's try to remember to breathe.

Breathe in now, and notice resistance come up from allowing yourself the space to just breathe. It's nothing too fancy, this is not a meditation class and neither am I anyone's guru. I just want to ask you as a companion, friend, or a buddy, that come on, let's drop that thought for just a second and breathe together.

Now you can continue that thought.

This is how we will survive this chaotic world, by breathing in between thoughts and movements and creating space where sometimes there seems to be none. Let's breathe a little more, a few times more than we usually allow ourselves to do.