Breathe as a metaphor...

Today I have been thinking about community and relationship, about how we are never ever outside of these things. I am considering how we may flow into different communities at times in our lives, how some stay around and some go, but that there is never a point where we are not part of something greater than ourselves. There is never a time we are not connected to the Eco-system of our environments. Even if we never saw people, the animal needs of our bodies keeps us connected. We are in community with our water, the weather, our food supplies, our shelter... so many things. A thread and a network, always.

When we notice our breathing we get a great dose of this lesson. Are we more comfortable with the inhale or the exhale? Do we lean more towards staying full of air, or emptying out? Does our breath hold or hitch anywhere? Our unconscious attitudes and expectations about giving, taking, offering, receiving, and about being in relationship are often revealed through the act of breathing. Here is more:

"Energy is cosmic and mysterious and often invisible to our eyes, and yet it is also tangible and real and measurable.  Like breathing- 

Breath is life and one of our primary ways of moving energy. Breath ushers us into this life from birth to death. When we breathe we are making an agreement to stay here, for at least a few more minutes. Breath is a gateway to life- a YES to being here on this plane. 

Breathing is relational and balancing. It is dualistic- as in two opposites make a whole. Elementally air follows ether, the manifest birthed from the unmanifest potential. Breath is one to two, and two to one, it is cell division, it is the mirror. Breath and voice give rise to form.

Our human journey begins and is nurtured with the relationship and connections between humans. Inside the womb we draw upon the resource of another human, and that flow of give and take continues throughout our entire lives. We are never outside the circuitry of needs.

In addition to person to person relationships, we are also in vital relationships with animals, water, dirt, food, air, fire, events, money,  places, ancestors, spirit, thoughts, emotions, our longings, creativity, intellect….. The list goes on and one There is nothing outside of relational phenomena……”

—-excerpt from Instrument of the Infinite Workbook