Who Is Breathing You?

Take a breath. Now another one. Now ask yourself who is breathing you. Are you really in control of your breathing? I ask this question to a lot of patients and most of the time, the response I get is "yes, I am breathing me". So then I say, OK prove it. Stop breathing. At which point my patient looks at me an says, "well, I can only stop breathing for a short period of time and then I have to breath again." I say, "exactly!" The truth is we are not in control of our breath. Think about a new baby being born. The moment they take that breath, they move into participation with their life on this level. It's a kind of initiation. I am not talking about the autonomic regulatory system that keeps the breath moving in and out. I am talking about how that breath connects with us in the first place. Where does that first breath originate from? It really is a mystery. And from our moment of birth to this present moment, we are participating with every breath with that mystery. We are being breathed. The more we recognize the truth of this, the more we can surrender to the process of being breathed.

The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument. - Bhagavad Gita

Put your hand on your belly below the navel. Allow a breath to come in through your nose and allow it to fill your belly first so that your hand moves outward as you inhale, and moves inward as you exhale. Consider the truth that you are being breathed and that although you have influence on your experience of breathing. (ie You can breath slower or faster etc) there really is nothing you have to do differently, or better. It's taken care of. So that means you can surrender to the process of being breathed. What do you experience when you do that?

There is one way of breathing that is shameful and constricted. Then, there's another way: a breath of love that takes you all the way to infinity. - Rumi

By the way, surrender does not mean to give up. In fact, it's the opposite of giving up. Surrender is the moment we start participating 100% with what is present right now. Not how we want it be, or how we fear it's going to be, but what is actually present right now. I find that when I am in a consciousness of surrender (or conscious participation with what is present) I immediately experience peace and often with the peace comes joy.

So, our breath is an incredible gift that is present at every moment to remind us that we are taken care of, that we are enough, and that peace is always present.

Fear is excitement without the breath. - Fritz Perls, M.D.