Re-examining What It Means To Be Breath
Photo by Lethu Zimu on Unsplash
Breath is a concept that has become very central to our collective awareness in the past few months.
As creator of “Being Breath”, it feels both essential - and challenging - to find words to reflect upon this.
This post is re-examining and clarifying what Being Breath is - and what that means for you and our journey from here.
WHEN BREATH WON’T FLOW
(Note: I’ve noticed the misuse of the words “breath” and “breathe” multiple times in the past few weeks. Because many of us read aloud in our heads, and hearing one word versus the other can make a sentence sound eloquent or absurd, I want to clarify the difference before beginning. “Breath” sounds like “br-eh-th” (short e) and is the noun. “Breathe” sounds like “br-ee-th” (long e) and is the verb, the action.)
Breath has always been something that I’ve assumed is universal to us all. You are alive, you breathe. The metaphorical ideas surrounding breath also seemed to apply all around: Inhale awareness, exhale creative expression, pause and understand stillness and space.
But,
how we practice “being breath” creates what we understand to be reality. And in our reality, there are some
who cannot breathe.
Collectively, almost all of us are holding our breath. We are anxious, confused, ANGRY, feeling vulnerable, swirling around in the unknown. We breathe shallowly, which is a biological response to protecting ourselves. We don’t feel at ease because everything is in a state of unrest.
There are those who have had their breath sucked out of them due to Covid.
And, there is George Floyd who couldn’t breathe as the knee pressed into his neck. (There are hundreds and thousands of other Black people who had their breath taken from them by another knee, or other hands, or bullets….)
It’s this last situation of being unable to breathe that I want to address here.
White people are becoming increasingly aware (though we’ve been reminded for decades) of the breathing struggles of our Black brothers and sisters. Our policies, procedures, laws, systems, ...they have all been chokeholds on Black people (and Indigenous and other People of Color) for centuries.
This awareness of how our systems are forcing the literal and metaphorical oppression of breath is something I was privileged to not consider. Now, I take responsibility for and within that privilege.
I do still believe that there is a universal need and benefit to “being breath”.
But how many of us are breathing just enough to survive - and what sort of society have we created that forces some to struggle to breathe more than others?
That is a question that now infuses every practice I do and offering I make.
Beginning with the individual practices of Being Breath, how do we take who we are and create societies and environments where everyone is able and feels free to breathe with full vitality?
WHAT IS BEING BREATH
Let’s circle around, re-define, and clarify what I mean by Being Breath.
It is important to do this so that we can work together with shared understanding. We are co-creating this ever-changing world.
Businesses, laws, societal structures, political systems, routines - they are all breaking down. Many were never healthy from the beginning. They were not sustainable, nor are they now benefitting the societies and cultures we want to create.
Instead of clinging with desperation to what was, we can engage with intention with what is and create what will be.
It is important that you are always touching in with the type of world you are creating through your thoughts and actions, and being increasingly clear about the type of world you want to be creating.
Where to start? With awareness.
And this is where the work of Being Breath can begin.
BEING BREATH is a way of living everyday life through practices of mindful awareness with an intention to improve our experience of that life.
In service of increasing that mindful awareness within myself and others, Being Breath is stories, images, workshops, classes, and online gatherings.
I teach meditation, breath awareness, how to engage with your dishes and your laundry to enjoy your day more, mindful movement, … stuff that lets you feel more at ease and alive in your life, as it is. (No mountain top retreat required.)
Those are the practical offerings of what you can do through Being Breath. The work, however, goes far deeper. (Thankfully, so do the benefits of doing the work.)
Learning to recognize and detangle your own thoughts, seeing your own biases and habitual patterns, feeling your breath and understanding how to engage with it, feeling your body and understanding how to engage with it, exploring how you co-create with your environment and others … it’s all part of Being Breath.
[Warning: Mindful awareness isn’t a wimpy practice. This type of invisible work can be challenging.]
As you might have guessed from reading the above, the practices of mindful awareness are 99% within you. They begin and return to your mind, your body, your thoughts. It’s very much an individual responsibility, exploration, and journey. AND the practice is not just self-serving.
It is done with “the ultimate intention (of) improving our experience of life”.
If you cannot breathe fully, neither can I.
This is a truth that arises as one’s awareness of our interconnectedness increases. (Like it or not, we really are in this thing together.)
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Through acknowledgement of that truth, these beliefs are part of Being Breath:
Black Lives Matter. This is a statement of recognition that even though all lives do, of course, matter, Black (and IPOC) lives have been systematically made to be “less than”. If you have questions about what I mean by “Black Lives Matter” vs “All Lives Matter”, read my post here. Better yet, Google the terms and listen - especially to Black authors. If you have questions about my views in particular and are honestly curious, feel free to message me. (If you are coming to attack, don’t bother. It’s a waste of both of our time.)
In the same light, all BIPOC voices, which have been silenced through systematic efforts for decades, need to be heard. This does not diminish the importance of White voices. Instead, it recognizes the BIPOC voices have, for far too long, been the secondary, back-up voices (or completely silenced). For us to improve our experience of life, all stories must be heard.
LGBTQ individuals deserve every right and freedom and ease of breath that those who don’t identify as such have.
As Brene Brown said in reference to a quote by Theodore Roosevelt, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again...”. If you are not willing to step into the area, the practices of self-awareness, to open your mind and heart even if (especially when) it feels difficult and uncomfortable and vulnerable, then Being Breath is not the path for you. If you are willing, know that I strive to create a space of non-judgment as we explore together. Know that this is not a race. Know that it is ok to stumble. Know that small steps in the work of awareness matter. (Indeed, they matter the most.)
These are some of the practices to serve those beliefs:
Through Being Breath, I will become increasingly proactive about including Black and IPOC voices. This means more referenced stories and quotes from BIPOC, as well as reaching out to BIPOC when exploring an offering through Being Breath to include their points of view. [“Increasingly proactive” means that this is an ongoing process, one that won’t stop as long as Being Breath is active]
If and when I invite guests (for podcasts, guest teachers for workshops, etc.), I will ensure that those guests are representative of the BIPOC population.
Personally, I commit to deepening my understanding of my white privilege, Black culture and history, IPOC culture and history, LGBTQ culture and history, and the ways in which all systems and structures are influenced by and/or built upon those privileges and discriminations. I challenge every non-BIPOC and non-LGBTQ person on the Being Breath path to do the same. [As I learn and change, so will the offerings through Being Breath]
When situations arise, I will make my voice heard in service of education and change for the BIPOC and LGBTQ populations. This includes but is not limited to: initiating or responding to conversations where BIPOC / LGBTQ are being discriminated against, where white privilege is going unexamined, and / or where there is an opportunity to open even one person’s mind or heart to the truths outside of their own. Voting for those who represent my beliefs. I challenge every person on the Being Breath path to do the same.
The other basic tenets of Being Breath remain the same.
These include, but are not limited to:
Life is change. Through practices of mindful awareness, we can be more adaptable to and engaged with that change. Doing so allows us to be a creative force in the directions of that change.
The little things matter. Each day, each hour, each minute is what life is. As you do one thing, so you do all things. If you are unable or unwilling to be in practice with these mundane moments (eating, walking, doing the dishes), life will always feel unstable and on some level, unfulfilling.
Life can be lived outside of right and wrong. Those concepts add an additional weight and blinders to our thoughts and actions. Instead, we can work with consequence and choose those thoughts and actions that create the world in which we want to live. Doing so opens opportunities for more productive conversations and solutions to problems.
You are always co-creating your reality. Through your thoughts, your posture, your awareness, attention, and intentions, your movements, your words, and so on, you are in co-creation with nature, other individuals, and forces that we do not yet logically understand. You have a responsibility to take a conscious part in this and, as you are able, to assist others in being able to do so with equal ability.
OK. NOW WHAT?
No matter if you feel immersed in it or immune to it, there is change happening. In your life, in our lives, throughout the world.
You have a privilege and a responsibility to play a part in that change.
The path and practices of Being Breath offer ways to be more authentic and intentional with how you contribute, as well as offering ways to feel better as you go about the daily experience of navigating change. The path offers ways in which you can take your self-awareness and let it be of benefit to others.
This post isn’t about selling anything. In fact, I have nothing for which I’m charging that I can offer you right now. I want you to read what I have to say,
then bounce off to explore your own thoughts, posture, movements, words …
to listen to BIPOC voices and inch or explode into action to change the discrimination inherent in our minds and systems …
to grab a drink and be mindfully present with the tastes, the smells, the textures and temperatures …
to sit and meditate for 5 minutes or 35 minutes, to get in touch with and strengthen your mind as you would your body …
to go for a walk.
Together, we will (continue to) explore and improve the experience of daily life - for YOU and for ALL beings.
We will remain curious about our own thoughts and bodies, and how our attention (or lack of attention) to those creates consequences. We will keep forging deeper and deeper into the field of non judgment, looking at what life is beyond right and wrong. We will explore meditation, mindful movement, sensory awareness, breath work, designing supportive environments, and coffee. (Because yum.)
Together, we will keep our intention strong to weave in growing awareness of BIPOC historical, present-day, and dreamed stories, in part so that their voices become far stronger and influential in our currently-broken societal systems. Our actions will reflect our awareness.
We will use our practices of Being Breath - however messy they may look and feel - to strengthen our well-being. You must be well in order to do your work in the world.
Every day, we dedicate ourselves to growing in awareness. This might mean we become more mindful of a bite of food and/or we become more informed about the history of Black lives.
We will follow the instructions for living as offered by Mary Oliver, “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”