When you think of breathing, what appears in your mind first? Do you seldom think of breathing at all? Breathing is an ordinary, everyday, lackadaisical, subconscious action that every person will do, whether or not they are alive or dead. For the most part, it is so ordinary that everyone can do it, even if there is some assistance.
Aah, but with more introspection, one can find the intricate and complex beauty of breathing.
Think deeply of breathing. Breathing is an extraordinary process whereby gasses are transferred in and out of the body through gas exchange in a process called “Respiration”. In a very simple way, with breathing, one can transfer CO2 particles out of the body while taking in O2 particles in the body. That’s just the beautiful science behind it.
Psychologically, once one focuses on the act of breathing, one stifles, stutters, struggles, and overthinks the natural and ever present flow that our body and mind command on a moment to moment basis. Once one can learn to control that panic, that overwhelming fear of when to breathe in and out, and let the body and earth around you naturally flow despite our interrupting thoughts, that’s when one can truly find peace.
There’s nothing ordinary about this. It is so essential that one can only last mere moments if they stop breathing. Appreciate the privilege of being able to breathe with risk or worry; freely. Find beauty in the familiar.
