"A Traveler Between Life and Death"

"And now I see with eye serene,

The very pulse of the machine.

A being breathing thoughtful breaths,

A traveler between life and death."

-William Wordsworth

 

Breathwork is by far the most useful part of my practice. If you're not taking advantage of your breath, then you should start now. Strong, flexiable, responsive lungs maximize performance by fueling the body efficiently. This awareness has the potential to empower everything we do.

 

Last summer a friend and I were taking a breather from a weekend rush. We were understaffed, stretching capacity, getting low on clean glasses, and it was my first July in Texas. I admitted that I couldn't have kept cool for the rest of the day if it wasn't for what I was just learning in yoga,

"It sounds a little out there, but in practice it's really cool. You can ALWAYS take a breath... like upside down, and balancing, and twisted, and self conscious... tired... or when it's one-million degrees and all you want to do is punch a customer in the face."

One of the initial benefits of my breathwork was the few seconds of quiet I found there to choose my battles more carefully. It's taken a third of my life to realize that a system balanced by restraint is the most responsible perspective from which to actively approach problems- especially those that are important to me.

 

Yoga warns us not to make inaction our goal because action never ceases. It's tempting to associate rigidity with wisdom to excuse ourselves from participating fully in our lives. If you strive to see life as a gift, this is not only a poor excuse but a self-indulgent and ungrateful one. In my experience, it only temporarily isolates me from my responsibilities and mostly stems from unwillingness to be compassionate towards the needs of others.   

 

Even if the world ends tomorrow, an oragnism's ability to adapt until then will be what defined it as a living thing. Fear will only inhibit our God-given ability to regulate ourselves in the face of whatever demands life throws our way. The key to escaping fear and living without regret is being so connected to every breath that we approach even our last from within The Temple of the Holy Spirit. My hope is that you find potential for growth in every moment including this one.