Every breath is a small birth and a small death.
Pema Chodron
The breath is an amazing thing for all kinds of reasons. First of all and most obviously, it gives us Life. Prana, in yogic tradition, is a vital "life-giving force" that is breathed into us. Biologically, we take precious oxygen ( and other gases) into our lungs with every inspiration and then it goes to every cell in the body so energy can be produced to keep us alive. Without the in- breath...we would not be here in these forms. Our bodies are dependent on it.
On the exhalation we release the unnecessary, that which no longer serves, that which is the end product of cellular metabolism...the "garbage" so to speak. If we do not release this we will smother and die in our own form-created toxicity. We must release that which does not serve. The out breath allows us to do that.
Our breath helps us serve the world and other beings in it. We take in breath so our bodies are functionable and able to serve. We breathe out CO2 and other gases that other beings breathe in so they can survive to serve us...and they in turn create oxygen for us to breathe in. Breath is a very interdependent process.
Breath also acts as an anchor that keeps us centered and that can bring us home to our spacious centers when we stray off. Mindfulness of breath is one of the oldest and simplest meditation practices there is. When we stop our busy work to put our attention on the in breath and especially the out breath we slip out of the dramas and Non-Stop Thinking of our mind and come back to body and moment. The breath is all about the body and moment.
I learned something new and cool today about the breath from Pema Chodron . The breath can remind us and help us to find peace in the notion of "death". It reminds of us of the impermanence of all things. The breath is short lived...every in breath is a birth and every out breath is a death. Through awareness of the breath we see how all things arise, and how all things dissolve. There is a coming and a going to the breath as there is to our physical form and all things of this physical world. Yet, that which observes the breath is awareness and awareness never dies. It is who we are. Breath mindfulness reminds us of that and it also allows us to relax into the fear of death because it relaxes the body and mind.
It is all pretty cool. Don't you think?
Pema Chodron/ Belfast Buddhist (2016) Pema Chodron-Relaxing With Impermanence
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