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Every Breath Is An Act Of Receiving And Giving

Every Breath Is An Act Of Receiving And Giving

Author: Jo Rushby
Date: 2024-03-02

Breath, you invisible poem!

Pure, continuous exchange

with all that is, flow and counterflow

where rhythmically I come to be.

Each time a wave that occurs just once

in a sea I discover I am.

You, innnermost of oceans,

you, infinitude of space.

How many far places were once

within me. Some winds

are like my own child.

When I breathe them now, do they know me again?

Air, you silken surround,

completion and seed of my word (Rilke)

It is one of those well-heeled cliches; 'that song took my breath away'. It denotes a moment of magic in our lives. But breathing is central to keeping us alive.

There's always a frisson of delight when, in a cold clime, one exhales and a magical cloud appears in front of you. Like bubbles blown in childhood. One cannot get enough of it. The first time I saw a steam train, I thought of the engine as breathing, throwing plumes into the air, young enough to think of trains as human. And then one wintry morning, my father took me on a horse ride. The horse stamped its feet and snorted.

Because breathing is all around us, we take it for granted. But do we really notice. It has always fascinated me how freestyle swimmers time their breath, right and left, perfect synchronicity, exactitude. Performance breath.

And do we realise how central breathing is to our well-being? Breathing, like surfing, is an art. It is about control, liberation. Reading Tim Winton's book Breath has drawn me into the power of the ocean, that gasp as your head is plunged under the surface, the rush of oxygen to the brain, the perfect curl of a wave, the desire for more. And yoga is not just about the contortions of the body, the downward dog, but about the breath. Try it. Close off one nostril and breathe out through the other. As you alternate, you begin to slide into rhythm and feel waves of calm wash over you.

This morning, I chanced upon Iyengar's book Light on Pranayama. It is a sheer delight, taking you on a journey through the energy that permeates theUniverse, and brings us back to mother earth with 'ayama', the expansion and control of breath.

When we get angry, when we feel under pressure, breathing is affected. It permeates our body, cutting us off from vital supplies, drawing our energies, making us more upset. As written in Hatha Yoga Pradipika, "When the breath is steady or unsteady, so is the mind".

It is not that BMW M3 that stands between happiness and sadness. It's your breathing.And it's free. Take it while it lasts. Like water, it will soon be bottled in the highlands of the Drakensberg and sold at your local Woollies.

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