Breathing

As I set off for another busy day, I take a moment to breathe.  Breathing is most underrated.  We’re so used to doing it, we usually give it little to no thought.  The funny thing is, it’s the healthiest and quickest way to offer ourselves a moment of healing.  Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, as if you’re blowing out birthday candles, not only cleanses your lungs, it instantly improves everything happening on the inside and quite miraculously, makes everything happening on the outside more tolerable. 

I think that’s why people smoke.  I realized that when I gave up the habit over ten years ago.  Once it occurred to me that it was the breathing that calmed me and not the nicotine, I began taking long, deep breaths any time I felt tension—before, in the midst of, and after difficult conversations, at the moment some jerk dangerously cuts me out on the road, when I’m feeling blue.  And it really does make a difference.  Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese expatriated Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace advocate, suggests that with every in-breath you think, “I am” and with every out-breath, “at peace.”  I do this a few times throughout the day as many days as I remember to, focusing on my breath and those words. And poof! my day is at once made better.

“A healthy mind has an easy breath.” — Author Unknown

“For breath is life, and if you breathe well, you will live long on earth.” — Sanskrit Proverb

May you remember to use your breath to improve your mind, body and spirit all through the day!

Enjoy your day!