The Breath of Life

Breath is life! Breathing deep invigorating drafts of air keeps us mentally and physically alive. Most people take short, shallow breaths. This starves the body of the oxygen that it needs and leads to scattered thoughts and emotional upsets.

Maintaining your awareness of breath helps put everything in perspective. Everything you hold so dear is dependent on your breath. Without your breath, everyone and everything in the world would cease to exist for you. Everything is dependent on your breath. Hold onto your breath like the priceless jewel that it is.

Make friends with your breath. Your breath is your greatest ally. It is the first you meet when you come into this world and will be with you until the very end. The breath is always there waiting for you to return your attention to it. We often ignore our breath, but our most loyal breath is always there waiting for us.

Breathe Deeply

Deep breathing is a great practice to incorporate into your daily routine. It gives your body the oxygen it needs to revive and heal itself. It relaxes you and helps to ground yourself in your being (instead of your thoughts). And it is also a great way to settle down before meditating. Given all its benefits, it’s amazing that most people totally ignore this priceless gift.

Start the day out right with the following deep breathing exercise:

• Take a deep inhale through your nose for 5 seconds – Start by expanding your chest then work your way down to your belly.
• Pause
• Then exhale through your nose for 5 seconds – Start by exhaling from your chest then work your way down to your belly. Use your abdomen muscles to squeeze all the air out of your lungs.
• Pause
• Repeat the process for 5 breaths – After a while, you may feel compelled to extend the number of breaths and the length of your breaths.

The great thing about deep breathing is that you can perform it anytime and anyplace.

Deep breathing shifts your attention out of your mind into awareness of breath. It is a great way to train yourself to move out of your head into your heart. This is an especially useful activity to practice when you are stuck in rush hour traffic.

I perform this breathing exercise on my commute into work. Then continue with it as I walk to my desk. This sets the tone for my breathing throughout the day.

Breathe back into the present moment

The most effective way to return to the present moment is to return your attention to your breath.

The present moment is the sweet spot. It is the space where we are not dwelling in the past or worrying about the future. Reminding yourself often to “breathe” helps tune out the incessant chatter that the mind produces. You can’t make your thoughts go away, but it certainly is within our power not to dwell on them.

Our breath re-centers us in the present moment; the only place that we can truly be alive. In this breath, in this moment, nothing is lacking. Our breath is our portal into our inner state of bliss.

Breath is Spirit

As our minds get pulled into the world of thoughts, our attention gets redirected away from our breath and our awareness of God.

Our breath is a miraculous tool that we can use for spiritual transformation.

Awareness of breath is enlightenment.

Breathing nurtures our soul. Coming back to our awareness of breath and our awareness of the present moment is an excellent way of communing with God. This is something we can do during all of your daily activities to maintain our overall comfort and joy. With practice, it becomes second-nature.

Why not make use of this most valuable resource and harness its transformative power? It only takes a little practice.

Make every breath count. Make each breath a moment of meditation. Make every breath a loving communion with God.

Live your life one breath at a time and keep coming back to the warm, loving presence of love in your heart. Continue to breathe into your heart center, throughout the day, to maintain your overall comfort and well-being.

Breathe over it!

Most people are unconscious of their breathing and therefore lost in their mind. This has a negative impact on our health, happiness and quality of life.

If you cannot alight your attention on a positive though, then return your attention to your breath. Over and over again we must choose to return our attention to our breath, return to the present moment, and reconnect with the warm, loving presence in our hearts.

Within you is an energy so powerful that it has the capability to completely overwhelm all off your adversities. When an undesired circumstance arises, well up the power of love and let it completely surround, embrace and engulf the darkness until there is nothing left but light.

Allow your breath to wash away all of your negatively so you can burn ever more brightly.

All you have to do is breath. Everything else is optional.

Inspirations to motivate you to breathe consciously

Take a deep breath.
You’re alive!

There is a shallow way of breathing that’s a suffocation.
And there’s a way of breathing deeply  
that opens you up to life.
– Inspired by Rumi (1207-1273)

Breathe deeply
and luxuriate in your own goodness.

Breath. Breathe!
The way to see is breathe.

Follow your breath home.

Heaven in every breath!

Breathe . . . and feel the Love.

Don’t forget to breathe!

Copyright @ 2020. Mark Ellison. All Rights Reserved