23 – Breath of Life

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica)

Keyword – Presence

What are you doing with the life between your first breath and your last?

One of our first acts after birth is to take a breath, and at the end of physical life we eventually release our last. Between those two extraordinary moments are countless breaths accompanying every part of being alive — sleeping and waking, crying and laughing, fearing and loving, creating and grieving, praying, learning, making mistakes and changing.

Breath of Life invites us to become present to this life we are actually living.

With its branching form and clusters of tiny buds, Broccoli offers a striking visual reminder of the branching structures within our lungs. Yet when the familiar vegetable is allowed to continue its natural life cycle, those tightly held buds extend, open and flower. What we might have considered the finished form continues becoming.

Our breath can also reveal something about our inner world. Fear may quicken it, grief can catch it, tension may cause us to hold it, relief can release a great sigh and peace may allow it to soften. By gently bringing awareness to our breathing, we can become more present to what we are feeling rather than continually moving away from ourselves.

Breath can take us inward towards awareness and outward into expression — speaking, laughing, singing, creating, loving, moving and experiencing. It accompanies us whether life feels effortless or difficult and reminds us of something easily forgotten in the busyness of existence: we are here now.

This essence does not ask us simply to breathe. It asks us to consider how fully we are participating in the precious life our breath accompanies.

Invitation: This essence invites you to become present to your breath, your feelings and the life unfolding around you — and to consider whether you are merely getting through your days or allowing yourself to genuinely participate, experience, express and live.

Loving qualities: Presence • Aliveness • Awareness • Gratitude • Emotional connection • Expression • Vitality • Reverence for life

Patterns revealed: Disconnection • Going through the motions • Emotional avoidance • Holding back • Numbness • Distraction • Fear of living • Taking life for granted • Lack of presence • Existing rather than living