One with your breathing
Become one with your breathing
Have you ever noticed the short pause between the moment you breathe out and when you breathe in again? For a brief moment everything is completely still. You find yourself at the centre of your being. For a fraction of a second you become one with what you really are: living stillness. It is in that stillness, that mysterious, motionless moment that control lets go and life flows of its own accord.
This short pause in your breathing also occurs between the moment you breathe in and the moment you breathe out, on both sides of your breathing in other words. Maybe you have never noticed it, but that pause is always there. Just examine your own breathing and you will feel it. When you become aware of this brief moment, without ‘manipulating’ your breathing of course, the moment will become longer and deeper.
Without even being conscious of the fact, with every breath you connect with the very source of life itself; you connect with Being. And from this stillness, from this source, your next breath appears without any effort. If you regard your breathing in as life or creation, then you could say: from this source, from this stillness comes all life and creation.
You could see your breathing out then as relaxation, the surrender of life and creation to the same stillness. Breathing out means: letting go and not claiming life or creation but rather surrendering to the source from which they originated.
Breathing is a never-ending cycle of creation, stillness and surrender.
In the next meditation we not only become aware of our breathing, we also become one with it. Becoming one with your breathing is the same as becoming one with life. Becoming one is synonymous with ‘becoming whole’; fully and completely present.
There is also a shorter version of this meditation below with four breaths (= 1 minute) that you can do anywhere and at any time. It will help you to remain in touch with yourself regardless of the situation.
Becoming one with your breathing: an exercise
Sit down and relax but remain alert
Breathe deeply in and out 6 times. A little extra oxygen is always good for the body.
Breathe softly and deeply in and out, allowing all the tension to flow from your body, your feet, your legs, your hands, your shoulders, your head and the area around your eyes
Breathe softly in and feel how the oxygen fills your stomach and lungs,
Feel how everything relaxes even more when you breathe out
Breathe softly in
Breathe softly out
Become aware of the still moment between your breathing
For a brief moment there is nothing
Breathe softly in
Breathe softly out and sink into the stillness between your breaths
Breathe softly in
Breathe softly out and sink even deeper into the stillness
Bring what you are now experiencing as yourself closer to your breath
Close the gap between you and your breath
Make the gap smaller with each breath
Make it even smaller still
Crawl into your breath
Come even closer
Become one with your breath
Become one with the stillness
You are the stillness
Rest awhile there…
Short 1-minute version, one you can use anywhere, any time (even when you are in the company of others).
Relax your body, relax your head and your eyes.
- Breathe in softly and deeply
Breathe softly out and let yourself relax - Breathe in softly and deeply and feel how the oxygen fills your body
Breathe softly out and become one with the relaxation and the stillness - Breathe softly in and close the gap between you and your breath
Breathe softly out and feel the stillness when there is no breathing - Breathe softly in and become one with your breath and feel the stillness flowing into your body
Breathe softly out and enjoy the stillness that you have now become