Our Breath & Mother Earth
The reason breath is stressed so often in yoga is because it really is THAT big of a deal. It is what connects us to this earth and this present life.
With each inhale, Mother Nature is offering up her elements to join our circulatory system and meridians to then be distributed throughout our body. Think O2 & ATP, all the way to the loving vibrations being emitted from the leaves of a plant. Our inhale is literally the grand welcoming party for life and new intention!
With each exhale, we release that which doesn’t serve us. Think CO2, all the way to old emotions that have been stuck in our fascia. We exhale to purge our waste both energetically and physically.
Our inhale is a gift that we receive from mother nature, while our exhale is our gift to give. It is one of our profound symbiotic relationships that we share with mother nature. See, our exhale belongs to the plants. It is their food. In the same way we exhale, plants do too. Except their exhale belongs to us. Our food. They become our breath and our sugar. We become their breath and their soil.
6CO2 + 6H2O <—> C6H12O6 + 6O2
Our profound connection to all things can be seen in every aspect of life. The equation for photosynthesis is just one of them. As we need the plants, they need us, and ultimately we are all one. So understand that each breath we take throughout our day has a purpose and a life to serve. Each inhale that we take is a precious gift that has been given to us by the life that surrounds us.
In addition to recycling the tangible elements in the air, plants can also absorb and transform negative emotional vibrations to positive! Just as we digest food, we digest situational emotions. We take what we need from a situation energetically, then purge what we don’t need. As we release negative emotions from our physical space, we send them into the earth to be recycled and transformed into a new positive vibrations – much like the photosynthetic exchange!
Bottom line, surround yourself with plants guys! They WILL make you happier and healthier. If you are in a work space without plants, buy one for your desk. If you don’t have any in your home, get a few within the walls. Shit, turn your house into a jungle if you want to – that’s what mine is looking like these days. With that being said, lets also practice organization and feng shui in our space! We’ll save that for another post though.
Breathe on and stay present in the abundance that surrounds you.
Namaste.
Kelly a Bailey
Meditation:
Sit somewhere comfortable with a plant in front of you! If you don’t have one, just begin to envision one. Begin to notice the overall shape of the plant, the colors of the leaves, the texture of the leaves. Notice the stem. Notice where the stem meets the soil. Take a second to make any other observations about the plant. Surrender to this meditation by giving your presence fully to the pant. Now take 7 deep ujaii breaths (through the nose). Filling the belly first on the inhale then the thoracic space. Exhale contracting your lungs, then your belly.
Take a minute of gratitude for this plant and all of mother nature’s abundance; for the fruits they produce to nourish us with precious nutrients. Take a minute of gratitude for your own life and the vibrations that you emit to all that surround you. Take a minute of gratitude for the profound connection that we share with all things.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Cristina Means Bearden with The Red Fly Studio