Life launches with breath.

Like a deep sea diver piercing the water’s surface, we emerge with an initial gulp of air.

This yearning and receiving marks the start our human unfolding – our last exhalation, its final punctuation.  Breathing is fundamental to our existence but usually goes unnoticed, lost in the hum of activity.  Our fragile and miraculous lives begin and end with breath – every moment of the journey is stitched with this silvery thread.

Perhaps like most of us, I can overlook what is offered abundantly and value instead what is rare and fleeting. As a swimmer, I tried to maximize my lung capacity to go further and faster but it was cancer that taught me to go deeper.  My lungs had filled with fluid, and tumors in my abdomen made every breath a chore. Wrestling for each inhalation, I felt the paradox of abundance and lack. There was more than enough air in the room but there was a scarcity of space in my lungs.  I had to relax and focus on breathing out in order to create space to breathe in. I had to let go in order to receive.

It’s all relationship. This breath isn’t mine. It’s ours. It’s yours and mine. It’s our ancestors’. It photosynthesized through the first microbes and twirled across the globe, bubbling through gills, bounding through rivers, in and out of trees, exchanged by wolves and deer, and our favorite heroes and reviled villains. The same molecules that moved through Gandhi and Nefertiti may have circulated through us. Buddhist teacher and author Thich Nhat Hahn coined the word “interbeing.” Breath reveals our interbeing. It moves through us and we are alive because of it. Breath weaves us together.

But when do we stop to notice?

Noticing the breath is a gateway to stillness.  Pay attention to how good it feels- this abundant gift, this undeniable connection to something beyond self, something greater, something timeless and vast. Our humble breath is a powerful guide and teacher, a powerful key into the mystery.

I wrote a song called “Breath” sitting next to a waterfall on the vibrant island of Kaua’i, feeling the depth of my connection to life, to Source, to Love. You can listen here:

Here are the lyrics:

BREATH

Let’s meet at the place where you and I begin

We’ll move through water and into stone

Where stone melts to fire and fire turns to light

Where my breath becomes your breath and your breath becomes mine

I thought I dreamt this kiss but when I awoke

there was dew upon my lips.

There was dew upon my lips.

We’ll wind our hands back to where time holds still

No need to hurry or wait until…

Where ends are beginnings and now is always the time

Where my breath becomes your breath and your breath becomes mine

I thought I dreamt this kiss but when I awoke

there was dew upon my lips.

There was dew upon my lips.

I’ll look in your eyes and feel the infinite divine…

Where my breath becomes your breath and your breath becomes mine

My breath becomes your breath and your breath becomes my breath and

my breath becomes your breath and your breath becomes mine

© 2007 – Erika Luckett/ Birdfish Music BMI