your breath is your life
alignment enables flow
the work starts within
Your breath is your life.
It’s so obvious and elementary that it should go without saying. But the things that should go without saying usually need to be said, because they are often overlooked.
Your breath is your life.
This is not just some yoga metaphor. You literally cannot live without breathing. If there is one thing that defines life, this is it. Breath.
How often do you think about yours?
If you’re like most people, probably not often. Unless or until you’re in a situation where you are struggling to breathe.
If the pandemic has had a positive aspect, this is surely one of them: it’s brought more awareness to our breath.
At the same time, one consequence of how we work now is that we may be less attuned to our breath.
We spend more time in front of screens.
Studies show that we tend to hold our breath when we are in front of screens. Especially when checking email. There’s even a term for this: email apnea.
I’ve noticed myself holding my breath while writing — including while writing this very essay. That’s how easy it is to lose track of the breath.
All the sitting we do while working, especially the way we tend to sit in front of our screens, also makes this problem worse. We contort our bodies and pull our spine out of alignment.
Imagine if you twisted up a water hose. The water wouldn’t flow easily through the hose. In the same way, when the body isn’t aligned with itself, the breath can’t flow to the organs and muscles and joint spaces.
This eventually results in physical pain. I don’t know about you, but I find it very difficult to focus and get work done when my body is in physical pain.
Getting the body back into alignment and nourishing it with breath are therefore fundamental practices for our productivity and the essential task of living.
Paying attention to your breath sounds so basic. It shouldn’t even need to be said.
That’s why it’s important to bring awareness to it.
Your breath is your life.
So fundamental that it’s easy to forget.
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