On this cold February morning I can see my breath condense on the window pane as I breathe out on it. I begin to…
Consider the Breath.
It is both astonishing and ordinary to realize that the breath happens without any thought or effort on our part. I don’t have to think, “Breathe in,” each time I take a breathe or “Breathe out,” each time I release a breath. It just happens.
It is as if the breath breathes me.
Similarly my heart beats without any reminder from my conscious mind, speeding up when I am exerting effort, slowing when I am resting.
As I sit here contemplating the breath and beating hearts, and how trees and plants breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen while animals use the oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide it boggles my mind.
I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us…”
– Mary Oliver
Life, on this earth is astonishing!
Each breath a miracle! My heart thudding in my chest day in, day out for however long this life lasts an astonishment. The breath breathing me day in, day out, a wonder.
I stumble through this life breath by breath, surrounded by ordinary miracles.
Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.— Wu-Men
When I sit to meditate I usually focus on the breath, noticing where in my body I feel it, watching as my belly rises on an in breath and falls on an out breath. Sometimes in this stillness I sense my heart beating, pulsing blood throughout my body. Ordinary life, but in reality not ordinary at all!
What a gift it is to be alive in this body on this cold winter day! I hope that you too find inspiration when you consider the breath.
May you walk in beauty.
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