Let the Breath Breathe You

The energy of will is an electric force, where the power of love is a magnetic force. — Dr. Christine Page, Frontiers of Health

I have been finding lately that my old ways of responding and reacting to situations leaves me feeling like a battered flag after heavy winds. That sitting in silence for a few minutes every day and just listening to the sound of my breath, tracing its movement in and out, has had an anchoring affect.

Consistent practice has helped me to notice when I am responding to others from a place of action or falling into old patterns of reaction. Even if I take a day or two off here and there from meditation, the mat or the chair always welcome me back without judgment.

The ease of returning to practice after a stint away has been, for me, about connecting with the comfort and enjoyment of sitting alone, seated in the Self. There’s an interesting magnetic field effect at work when it comes to any practice that has the potential to be beneficial — like the magnet drawn to its opposite and repelled by its likeness. We want to go sit for 15 minutes WE KNOW that it would be good for us, yet somehow the moments get gobbled up by the day. Big deal. There is always this moment. And this one. And then this one.

The key to adapting to constant change is in discovering new ways to relate. Allowing each moment to be fresh and new requires almost constant reminding. That’s why it takes a village, a community of us, working together, reminding each other which way the magnets go to cling together. As with the magnet, the transformation of resistance into benefit comes when the guilt and judgment of NOT DOING become part of the past moment. Bygones become bygones. The slate is clean. The air is clear. Then the breath breathes you.