Breath~ Day #2 (Week 2)
- By Richard Fahlander
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- 14 Apr, 2020
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April 14
When people ask me how I am doing, I reply, “I’m breathing.”
We are in a time when breath is on everyone’s mind. In ordinary daily life we
don’t concentrate on breathing, otherwise it would be hard to think or do much
of anything. In yoga, breath is our foundation. We mindfully nurture the life
force that surges deep within. We follow the breath. We lead with the breath.
We use the breath to gauge our strength and resilience. For Covid-19 patients
such measurements become a matter of life or death. It’s interesting that
breathing exercises recommended for Covid patients so closing follow what we do
in yoga. Long slow inhales and exhales with pauses in between. Intentional
breaths while face down (sphinx, cobra) and face up (bridge) and on the side
(planks). Obviously, yoga doesn’t prevent Covid-19 (although if our president
did yoga he might think it does), but, certainly, nurturing breath is a healthy
practice with only positive side effects. So now, hold that breath and give
thanks for the next.
On The Mat Yoga Blog
“There is a light in the core of
our being that calls us home—one that can only be seen with closed eyes; We can
feel it as a radiance in the center of our chest. This light of loving
awareness is always here, regardless of our conditioning. It does not matter
how many dark paths we have traveled or how many wounds we have inflicted or
sustained as we have unknowingly stumbled toward this inner radiance. It does
not matter how long we have sleepwalked, seduced by our desires and fears. This
call persists until it is answered, until we surrender to who we really are.
When we do, we feel ourselves at home wherever we are. A hidden beauty reveals
itself in our ordinary life. As the true nature of our Deep Hear is unveiled,
we feel increasingly grateful for no reason—grateful to simply be.”
—John J. Prendergast, PHD, The Deep Heart
Seems like it’s been rainy,
windy, dreary for eons. Which may have helped us shelter inside a bit more. I
remember reading years and years ago in a Seth book that weather can be
influenced, and even created by mass human emotion. Why not? We are far more powerful
than we currently acknowledge, and science is beginning to validate many
phenomena that had seemed inconceivable before. Those seemingly endless days of
“bad” weather seemed congruent with the emotional tone of covid her in New
England. And now SUN! Glorious, warming, invigorating, hope-filled Sun! Today I
will be outside basking and gardening and thanking. And I’m sure the whole
neighborhood, and most of New England will go outside, stand with our faces to
the sun and breathe a huge healing breath of joy. And maybe the collective
energy of that will resonate out across the word as a promise of brighter days
to come.
