Breathing

A series of breaths

Stephen Garrett, Canada

(Submitted by the author)

Life isn't a block of time, it's a series of breaths. Pay attention to each inhale and exhale, be present in the moment and life magically unfolds!
This moment-to-moment attention breathes gratitude and joy into the minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months we call life.

The Miracle of The Human Voice

Jocelyn Rasmussen, USA

(Submitted by the author)

The miracle of the human voice is that it can express everything of which we are capable, and although a sound returns to the silence from which it is drawn the moment it is uttered or sung, it may resonate infinitely and eternally through consciousness. Though billions of people share the earth, every single human voice is utterly unique and identifies individuals as surely as their thumbprint.

Conscious Breathing

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnam

(Submitted by The Art of Living Team)

Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.

Nomad's new dawn

Daryl Jean Searle, USA

(Submitted by the author)

I've finally stopped to rest and gaze at this new planet where my spaceship of time continuum has touched down, for now. There are new vistas, palm trees and pink blossoms ... fresh sounds: a lone bird chirps and a single rooster crows.

Morning has broken. My soul is still intact.

I'll give thanks to God for his everlasting mercy, temporary shelter, lessons learned, stories yet untold, and take in these sights and sounds anew.

I'll share the spirit of Ecclesiastes: for every season, there is a time under the sun: to breathe, just breathe.

The Lord of Dancers

Fritjof Capra, Austria

(Submitted by The Art of Living Team)

Five years ago, I had a beautiful experience. I was sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, watching the waves rolling in and feeling the rhythm of my breathing, when I suddenly became aware of my whole environment as being engaged in a gigantic cosmic dance.

The Sun

Rev Koichi Barrish, USA

(Submitted by the author)

Ueshiba Morihei O’Sensei, the great Shinto thinker and founder of the Art of Aikido said:

“Rise early in the morning to greet the Sun. Inhale and let yourself soar to the ends of the Universe; breath out and let the Cosmos inside. Next, breath up the fecundity and vibrance of Earth. Blend the breath of Earth and your own and become the breath of life itself. Your mind and body will be gladdened, depression and heartache will dissipate and you will be filled with light and gratitude.”

Breathe in, Breathe out

Judith Hurley Prosser, USA

(Submitted by the author)

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in,
Draw up Earth’s Energy
Into your body.
Breathe out,
Pull down Universal Light
Into your body.
Breathe in,
Be grounded
In your body.
Breathe out,
Allow wisdom to
Fill your Being.
Breathe in
Life itself.
Breathe out
All things unnecessary.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.

Affirm life

Suheir Hammad, from Brooklyn, NY by way of Palestine

(Submitted by the author)

Anyone reading this is breathing, maybe hurting,
but breathing for sure.
and if there is any light to come, it will
shine from the eyes of those who look for peace and justice after
the rubble and the rhetoric are cleared and the phoenix has risen.

affirm life.
affirm life.
we got to carry each other now.
you are either with life, or against it.
affirm life.

Extracted from the poem 'First Writing Since', by Suheir Hammad.