In Breaths and Out Breaths

The things we collect on our walks.

In breath, and out breath. In breath, and out breath. Repeat, over and over and over again. This is how we live our life, right? In breath, out breath. In breath, out breath. Something we perhaps take for granted most of the time.

Some of my earliest meditation training was in watching the breath, but not in the usual cliche way of just 'watch your breath'. It was more like being in full awareness of every moment, every part of the breath cycle, and took concentration to stay with. A very deep practice, simple but deep and one I still do, because it's wonderful.

On the inhale, notice the beginning, the middle and the end (the point where you have finished inhaling). Notice a pause, where air is transferred in the lungs, some in and some out. Notice the beginning, the middle and the end of the pause. Notice the exhale, the beginning, the middle and the end. And notice the space at the end of the breath, once the exhale has ended but before the next inhale begins. So spacious.

I love that space. That space, in between the breaths, that is the space where the quiet mind can be found. The commonly held idea is that meditation is trying to quiet the mind, yet to me, that's going the wrong way about it. The mind is what it is, it wants to think and to chatter and to always be going. The body is the place of stillness, the breath; using the mind to focus on the stillness of the body, the mind is so full of concentration that there is no space for thoughts. That place between the ending of the out breath and the beginning of the in breath, that is the place where, if you are concentrating on the rest of the breath cycle, you will find the stillness of mind. It is fleeting, it is momentary, the mind wants to attach to it and think about it. And then the next in breath comes along. The more you connect to that space in between, the easier it is to find it again, and again, and again.

And then I look at our days, the in breaths and out breaths and spaces in our days. The times when we're doing, moving, and the times when we let go and rest. There must be a balance, between the moments in our days of doing things, and the moments when we pause. The in breath of action, the out breath of letting go. The pause between the two, and the space at the end. I know that in my days, I can work towards a greater balance; less of the in breath and doing, more of the out breath and letting go. Bringing rhythm, harmony, the beat of life to our days.

Because in the end, one day there will be no more breaths, so we might as well notice and appreciate them while we're here. It just is how it is.