Breathe: to draw air in and expel it from the lungs: Respire (Merriam Webster)
Breathing in, I calm body and mind,
Breathing out, I smile,
Dwelling in the present moment,
I know it is the only moment
Thich Nhat Hahn
Day 2 of the A to Z challenge
Happy B-day! It’s not too late to join the A to Z Blogging Challenge. What is this challenge? You can find out more right here.
Don’t forget to breathe!
Do you ever notice what happens when you get stressed and/or anxious? You might hold your breath or breathe shallowly (is that a word?). I know I do.
And if I can remember to take a deep breath, I usually feel at least a little bit better. If I keep breathing consciously for a few minutes, I always feel better. That’s one reason why it’s so good to walk, especially in nature–it encourages deep, rhythmic breathing. Of course, walking in nature has many other benefits, as well, but those are for another day.
Here’s a little acrostic poem I wrote this morning:
Big
Relaxing
Easy
Air flows in and out
To
Heal your
Energy and calm your mind.
Ok–maybe it’s kind of a dippy poem. (Does anyone remember dippity-do? I just found out they still make it. I used to use it to try to get my bangs to go straight–it made them very crunchy!)
Another poem about breathing:
When I did my Waldorf teacher training, we took classes in eurythmy, which is a kind of movement developed by Rudolf Steiner–speech and sound made visible. Anyhow, one of the poems we moved to was the one that follows. The movement was simple. We stood in a circle and contracted–came close together on the in-breath parts of the poem–and expanded on the out-breaths. I really liked this poem–you can tell because I actually remembered it well enough to find it again after all these years.
In breathing, grace may two-fold be.
We breathe air in, we set it free.
The in-breath binds, the out unwinds
And thus, with marvels, life entwines.
Then thanks to God when we are pressed
And thank Him when he gives us rest.
—Goethe
Breathing and Waldorf Early Childhood Education
In my 20 years as a Waldorf early childhood teacher, I thought a lot about breathing a rhythm. We thought of our time in the classroom in terms of in-breaths and out-breaths. For the in-breath, we did something focused–like circle time (not all that intense, maybe, but it can be if you’re four years old) and the out-breath was a time to move and play freely–like free play time indoors or out. You can read more about rhythm and early childhood if you’re interested.
But just because I brought a healthy, conscious breathing rhythm to my class doesn’t mean that I brought it to my life. When I worked as a teacher, I tended to have a lot of in-breath and not a lot of out. I often felt like a headless chicken outside the classroom between classroom prep, countless meetings, and taking care of my own children. And I think I’m not alone in that. My rhythm–and my ability to breathe–is much better now that I’m working for myself. Still, when I have a deadline, I find myself breathing shallowly or holding my breath. And sometimes when I don’t have work I do the same thing. But on the whole, my breathing is much healthier. Of course, it’s also much healthier since I gave up gluten. One of my celiac symptoms is asthma.
Breathing with the flowers
I find it amazing that flowers–and all plants breathe in and are nourished by what we exhale and vice versa. Spending time in nature–woods, a park, even just outside where something is growing–is great for breathing. Indoor plants are great, too (I had to say that because a few of them are reading over my shoulder–but they are). When I’m in nature, I feel calm and my breathing deepens. It may speed up, too, depending on how fast I’m moving.
Here in Colorado, spring flowers are just beginning to bloom. I see some that are familiar and some I don’t recognize from the rest of my life up until 2 weeks ago in the Midwest.
Even thinking about flowers helps me to breathe better!
Thank you so much for stopping by–and don’t forget to inhale and exhale!
xoxo
