Just breathe

Take a moment to listen.  Can you hear it?  It’s your very own breath.

Typically, we don’t listen to our breath, we take it for granted.  It’s our body’s mechanistic way of working.  However, the breath is so much more than the oxygen it brings in to our lungs to make our bodies function.  The breath is something that we use to calm ourselves, to release stress; to bring ourselves back down to center after a strong emotion has been experienced.  We can train ourselves to utilize our breath, as if a tool, when we decide to join a sport or become a trained vocal musician. We can hold it when we go swimming or when we want to deeply inhale something especially delectable.  Our breath can be taken away and we can also catch our breath.  Now, consider this, our breath is also our basic common denominator to each and every other human on this planet.

The connection we have with each other can be categorized, intellectualized and rationalized, but the one thing that truly connects us all is the fact that we each breathe the same breath.   The air we breathe has been expelled by another, that is used by the environment and sent back to us.  If you look at it in this simplistic form, we do seem to be breathing the same breath.  We know there is more to it than that in the way of chemical compositions, however, to know that we are all connected through our breath is an interesting way to observe life. 

What if we went about our day noticing the breathing patterns of others.  Then noticing our own breathing pattern.  What would happen if you tried to synch up your breath to theirs?   How would you feel, would they noticed?  

Do As One is an organization with the goal of getting one billion people to breathe together each November 11th.  Their goal is, “To serve and connect humanity by establishing a legacy of healthy, conscious breathing.”   A visit to their website invites visitors to join a daily variety of breathing rooms.  Here you can see how many people are joining in this collective breath.  Not only does it have a counter of participants, it also has a map to show where the participants are located in the world.  In these rooms an intention can also be set.  It has 13 Grand Intentions which are: Unconditional Love, Nourishment, Peace, Health, Oneness, Harmony, Compassion, Joy, Beauty, Conscious Breathing, Abundance, Gratitude and Forgiveness.  Visit the website, http://www.doasone.com, download the app or utilize this widget below. Just Breathe.