Before it starts, “ ” .

Before your next quiet inhale starts, there is a “ ” . Can you see the space between the “ ” marks?

“ ”

Right now, can you find that “ ” in your ribcage, “in lung?” If you have only one lung - can you feel “ ” in that one?

” ” Left one?
“ “ Right one?

Gently, Oh Embodied One, can you breathe, and read, and feel “ ” inside of you at the same time? (psssst - you are Oh Embodied One.)

The Breath Cycle

Remember this: EACH BREATH has 4 parts.

1. “ ” Pause - allow.

2. Quiet inhale.

3. “ ” Pause - receive.

4. Gentle exhale.

The Breath Cycle is an advanced practice, and you’ve already learned it.

This is the first practice we learned when we were first born. You went from never doing it, to doing it daily, in the blink of an eye. We learned the Breath Cycle to survive as a creature on this Earth. Had you not learned this, Oh Embodied One, you would not be reading this now.

We all learned the Breath Cycle. At 12-15 breaths/minute, we humans can breathe 17280-21600 breaths EVERY DAY. That’s 6-9 million breaths a year. And how old you now? Do the math.

Everyone that takes a first breath will also, eventually, practice the Breath Cycle one last time. Even you. Even me.

Say this to yourself: “Some day, I will practice the Breath Cycle one last time.”

Maybe say it again, outloud this time, if your environment allows. “Some day, I will practice the Breath Cycle one last time.” How do you feel saying those words?

Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.

With all teachings, over a lifetime, we “Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.” Or at least we might.

What about your Breath Cycle could you unlearn and relearn? Or at least, might you?

Here are your instructions for the next paragraph: Move your eyes over the next BOLDlines 1 or 3 times, DOING the breath part you’re reading WHILE your eyes rest on that line. You’ll start when this next exhale ends.

“ ” Pause - allow.

Quiet inhale.

“ ” Pause - receive.

Gentle exhale.

1. Try it again. Could you take more time for each of the 4 parts.

2. Now, try it again. Find the “ ” BEFORE the quiet inhale. Rest there.

3. One more, be a resident and rest in the “ ” after the gentle exhale.

The breath cycle starts with the pause, the “ ”. When you were in your momma, you lived “ ” daily. We knew “ ” before we learned the quiet inhale. We practiced the “ ” daily for ~9 months.

The “ ” is the allowing. We learned allowing before we learned inhaling. We grew by allowing. We grow by allowing. Our first breath may or may not have been quiet. But could this next breath that you take be quiet? Try the Breath Cycle again.

“ ” Quiet inhale. “ ” Gentle exhale.

At the end of the exhaling, in the “ ”, no air moves. The settling. No muscle changes; they are. Breathing brake/break. Allow. “ ”

Then, a quiet inhale begins, soundless until the eventual top. The receiving. No muscle changes; they are. Breathing brake/break. Receive. “ ”

Then, allow the gentle exhale until the resting “ ”. The settling. Breathing brake/break. Allow. “ ”

All practices are advance practices to us before we do them. Be gentle with yourself when you’re learning things. And be gentle with yourself when you’re unlearning. And be gentle with yourself when you’re relearning.

Your ability to be aware, to witness, to awaken and see that which is embodied, Oh Embodied One, this IS our practice. Who is it that breathes? Who is it that watches the Breath Cycle? That is what this Substack offers. Or at least it might.