What Deep Breathing Teaches Us

The moment you wake in the morning, still lying down,
slowly, within your heart,
speaking the Word of the sacred,
breathe out strongly through pursed lips,
as long as you can

Breathe out, breathe out, breathe out completely,
and still keep breathing out

Just when you think, “No more will come,”
squeeze out the very last of your breath

Then,
like water soaking into soft cotton,
oxygen flows into your lungs

Next, sit up,
kneeling or seated in a chair,
and repeat the process

Then stand and do the same again
As you repeat it several times,
20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, a minute and a half,
the air you breathe in increases,
and more and more,
the air you breathe out increases

At last, when there’s truly no breath left to breathe out,
like water rushing into a hollow,
oxygen floods into your lungs all at once,
and you feel fresh elements of life filling your whole body

Begin your day this way,
and with a fulfilled heart and body
you can spend a radiant day

If, several times while you’re awake,
you do this “breathing out completely,”
the power of renewal rises in heart and body,
and sacred consciousness lasts more easily

Through breathing we are connected with people,
connected with air and water and earth,
connected with plants and animals
No, more than that:
even our connection with the stars and the universe
is made through deep breathing

Our calm, everyday breathing
had been teaching us the very heart of oneness
without a single word