Berries for the Birds

The air we breathe moves as part of the Earth's atmosphere. Air moves when there are temperature or pressure differences. The movement of air, or breath, does not follow a straight line, but rather moves in spirals.

Three Deep Breaths

Something Beautiful
Dark berries
Mana for the Robin.
Many birds gloriously singing
While they feast 
And fly
From one bunch of berries
To the next.
There is no conflict
Plenty for
All.

Breath Meditation
Air
Warmed by the indoors
Has only a hint
Of cool moistness.
An essence arrives
Deep in my body
That has travelled
The world over
Letting me know
I am one
With everything.

a pink flower

 Clinical Studies over the years have noted a wide range of medical problems caused or made worse by stress, such as hypertension, pain, insomnia, allergies, repetitive stress injury, infertility, and many others. Focussing on the breath is one way to elicit the relaxation response which can boost the immune system and make one more resistant to the harmful effects of constant stress. Research by Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response
  
Three Deep Breaths

Something Beautiful
Life is hibernating
Under a blanket
Of misty fog.
A pink flower
Gives color and life
Alone
And waiting
For the other buds
To appear.

Breath Meditation
My mind is full of
Too much to do.
My body wants trust 
And rest.
My breath wants 
This moment.
Let go of all the racing
Around
And settle in the now
Where everything
Is.

A Bouquet of Flowers

Breath is a great regulator of emotions, of mental and physical states.  


Three Deep Breaths

Something Beautiful
A bouquet of flowers
From the heart
Petals opening
In concert
Remind me of the beauty
Of the one who 
Loves me.

Breath Meditation
Stuck in my head,
Feeling fullness

Dry like cotton.
Breath leads the energy
Down
Like water streaming through a funnel 
Through my spine
And into my legs
To mother earth
Cooling, nourishing,
Calming

Orange

Breath movement is based on fluid dynamics. We live on a water based planet, and the body is at least 80% fluid.  The natural movement of breathing is a continuous wavelike motion. Breath has 4 phases inhale, transition, exhale, and rest, which create the wavelike motion of each breath cycle.

Three Deep Breaths

Something Beautiful
Orange
The fruit of Winter
Grows abundantly
While the apple tree sleeps
It's fruit and leaves long gone.
Orange
takes it's time to develop and mature

Unrushed
Each day
Becoming fuller and
Sweeter.

Breath Meditation
Fighting a cold
Breathing a bit labored.
Carried into my body
By each breathwave.
Becoming more clear,
The place that needs to breathe
Is awakened.
The right side of my diaphragm
Engages more fully
Liver cleansed
I am more awake
And resilient.

Water

 "Water does not have the characteristics of the living, but without water there is not life...Water does not have the expressions of life (growth, fertilization, reproduction, metabolism, etc.), but these only become possible through water. What is it that enables water to accomplish this? By renouncing every self-quality, it becomes the creative substance for the generation of all forms. By renouncing every life of its own, it becomes the primal substance for all life. By renouncing every fixed substance, it becomes the carrier of all substance transformation. By renouncing every rhythm of its own, it becomes the carrier of each and every rhythm." Theodore Schwenk


Three Deep Breaths

Something Beautiful
Morning Dew
Tiny droplets greet the sun.
Pools of water 
Held together
Reflect the Sun,
Our thoughts,
The world.

Breath Meditation
Inahle, Exhale, Pause.
Thinking, wondering, planning.
Releasing tension 
Into the moment
Of balance and fullness
Trusting,
Allowing the breathwave
To become
All that is.