Just let yourself be breathed!

Really growing up is not just blowing off the candles of your 18^th birthday cake but some deeper experience of yourself for a long time. I guess you already know that. Of course, self development is a never ending story (I guess you already know that, too…) but it has really changed my life when I found out that happy or unhappy life is my own creation. Nobody else is responsible and I cannot find fault with anybody. I am my best friend and my worst enemy.

All experiences that come from outside through the world, through nature or material things, are ultimately painful. None can give everlasting happiness. They may give temporary pleasure but they always end in pain. Even the enjoyment of our present pleasures is usually painful because we fear its loss. I am not saying that because everything is painful we should run from it. That doesn’t work. Whenever we go, the world follows. If you do not understand the world and attempt to run away, you can never succeed. Whenever we are, we have to learn to handle things properly. We cannot always change environments, running here and there. But once we know how to handle our family, we can handle a larger group, a company, a community. Your family life is a training place for public life. And the world is a training place where we learn to use the world without getting attached. A person with such an understanding has the magic wand to convert everything to happiness. Pleasure and pain are but the outcome of your approach. The same world can be a heaven or a hell.

So what can we do then? I suggest you only one thing for now: breathe! Yes, this common, everyday thing that you are always practicing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… Well, are you? Really? Give yourself a five minutes break and observe your breathing right here, right now! Is it deep and smooth and long? Are you present? The honest answer is usually no. Because we are always under stress and hurry and worried for everything. When we feel stress, our breaths are getting shorter and faster. Maybe you even do not realize but your breaths are all the time fast and short because life is a big stress bubble and you get used to it… Of course, it is true in another way. Your breathing can calm your mind, gladden your heart, and relax your body. Simply stop the stress! So, let’s focus on your belly, place your hands there if you want and very gently let your belly widen with your every inhalation and come back with every exhalation. Do not hurry! Do not force! No effort! Let your body find its natural beat. Just let yourself be breathed! Just intimate sensation as you follows the exhalations and inhalations of the life-force occurring by them. Let yourself come to rest in that presence.

Yes, here we are. This is the kiss of life. This is the beginning of everything… the beginning of your personal heaven that you, only you can create. And, you can practice that simple exercise any time! I suggest to focus and practicing your deep and long breaths as much as possible. During yoga class or waiting in the bus stop or rather at the meeting with your boss. Why? If you do this simple practice with full attention, it will help open up the breathing spaces of your body and get you sensing and breathing again. It will get your energy moving and help you feel more alive. It will help you become more present to yourself. Really sense, feel, and enjoy what’s happening in your entire body. This is the key to handle things properly; use the world without getting attached; and convert everything to happiness. Just let yourself be breathed!

And how does this come to yoga?! Well, everything is relating to yoga! Start with your breathing is a great idea!

“When each posture becomes a prayer, each breath a poem, when every moment of my practice becomes a celebration of the Lord, I am doing YOGA...”
Glenn Thorsen