Magic and Miracles
Dec 26, 2022
In our Breathing Course, we talk about the magic of exhalation. Slowing down the exhalation is powerful in helping our nervous systems to feel safe. It can help us mitigate fear, anxiety, anger, and all things stress-related. This is just an overly simple and brief explanation as to why the exhalation is magic. That’s what we say…
But there is much more to the story of breath. We say the exhalation is magic, and it’s easy to focus on it, but it’s only half of the breath cycle. There’s a whole other half. And the other half, the inhalation, is not magic. It’s the miracle.
Inhalation is the miracle of breath or the miracle of life. The inhalation is a reflex. It’s supposed to just happen, to be received. We are not meant to TAKE a breath; we are supposed to RECEIVE a breath. Even in the story of creation, the breath of life was GIVEN through Adam’s nostrils.
And that’s the miracle.
We receive a breath, and then we give it back. And once we give it back, our nervous system signals the body to let go and receive another breath. The diaphragm flows down, and air rushes into the lungs. Breathing is not a give-and-take. It’s receive and give. I often muse that exhalation is one of the biggest acts of faith we can make, trusting that we will be given another breath.
It is quite miraculous. And, if you ever focus on it or pay attention to it, few things in life feel as amazing as receiving an inhalation. It literally brings life into the body; if you are aware, it feels as wonderful as it actually is.
How can this information help you? I can tell you how it helps me. It helps me to be grateful. Knowing the gift of an inhalation and how each breath brings life into my body, it helps me to be thankful. It also helps me to find time to just sit and just let my breath happen to me. When I do this, I can let stress dissolve. I can also let my breath sweep me off my feet, letting my breath flow through me and out of me like ocean waves. It feels like I’m being bathed in energy. I know, it’s weird. But then, I’ve found it feels good to be weird sometimes.
Anyway, if you’ve never considered or even experienced the miracle and magic of your own breath, I encourage you to just sit, breathe, contemplate, and feel. Every breath you take is a magic miracle. You receive it, and you give it back. It fills you with life and can help relieve you from the attachments that would take life away from you. If nothing else, if you explore it, it can help you to feel energized and amazing.
Just try it.
Sit alone. Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Breathe out, through your lips or your nose, until your body asks you to quit breathing out and let go so that an inhalation can JUST HAPPEN. Let the inhalation happen, but let it happen through your nose. Then, just breathe.
Notice how your breath feels. Every time you exhale, let tension leave your body. Drop your shoulders, relax your jaw, relax your neck, relax your fingers. Every time an inhale comes into you, feel the energy and life it brings along with it. Let the exhalation take your cares and your stress away. Let the inhalation bring in new life, joy, and gratitude. And that’s it. Just enjoy this process for 5 to 10 minutes and feel your breath happen to you and through you.
Experience your miracle.
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