20,000 Breaths, 20,000 Choices

Did you know that you take, on average, over 20,000 breaths a day? I'm willing to bet that most of us go through most days without thinking about how we are going to breathe, if the next breath will be there when we need it, and how we will have enough breath to get through  today and the next day. Most of us do not live in fear of not having the ability to breathe nor do we fear that our breath will run out. We trust, most of us without any anatomical knowledge of physiology, that our lungs have, do, and will  function without wavering. This is a faith we carry although most of us have never seen our own lungs with our own two eyes. Isn't that nutty? Aren't the workings of your heartbeat and lungs and other vital organs such a mystery? How life begins and how it ends are such wonders that I cannot comprehend them but I can marvel and be grateful....but back to the topic of breath.  I bring up the thought of breath because, as a Pilates instructor and life long student, I see the internal stress that people carry within them so heavily tied to their ability, or lack of ability, to breathe. Neck tension, small nervous tiny specks of a breath, shoulders held close to the ears as if to protect the mind, these are some of the tell tale signs of a person in dire need of finding their true ability to breathe. The worries of life choke out peoples capacity to take a full breath.  Full active breathing requires  not only a physical shift in approach but also a decision to let go of some sense of control, to push boundaries, to open the body and the mind to something larger, to recognize and release the stiffiling aspects of ones own psyche and persona.  When you take a full breath you connect to yourself and to the wonders of a  larger scenario on a wider scope.  And when you make a daily habit out of conscious active breathing you may find yourself starting to connect to people and situations and to the turmoil of life with a little bit more grace because you have begun to sense that everything and nothing is connected to the truth of who you are and that you are a marvel of your own. Your spirit is your true self and by the grace of God you are enough.  Everything else, even your body, will, at the end of your days, go back in the box. So why not allow yourself to enjoy more of your 20,000 breaths today with a sense of realization that marvelous and wonderful miracles are happening all around you and in you every second of every day and that the stresses of life are a burden we can adopt or deny because we have the power. We have the ability to change the way we breathe, we have the ability to change the way we live.