Penny Mckay

Take a deep breath in now and connect with the power that is the life giving force of the ”in breath”

Can you feel it? 

Can you sense the soft movement of prana as it is called to caress the inside of your nostrils? 

How aware are you of its gently gliding, sliding journey past the back of your throat?

Are you able to notice this wonderful, whispering life force as it arrives deep in the heart of your lungs?

As you draw this breath in, ask yourself, is this an expansive breath? Can you get a sense of your body opening and expanding to welcome this life giving force. Or is there restriction? Do you have difficulty in allowing the “in breath” so subsequently it is shallow and inhibited? Could it be that by restricting your breathing you are restricting your potential to connect with life and for life to connect with you? A shortlived breath that perhaps leads to a shortlived life.

Just as our out breath provides us with the means to release, let go and flow out in to the world; the in breath provides us with the means to contract, to draw in and to prepare. The in breath is the cycle of the breath that creates an inward movement, within us. Within this inward movement lies our unique, boundless potential that, when realised, can flow out. 

When we breath in we are provided with the opportunity to connect with our potential and to choose how we wish to direct the life force we have drawn in. The intention of what we choose to create or of what we choose to become emerges from the in breath and that potential. What do you intend to create? What do you intend to become? Happy? Peaceful? This intention is what will flow out on your out breath to be made manifest in your world. 

Thus you breath in with the intention of creating peace; you breathe out and create peace;  pause and be peace.

Breathe in; breathe out; pause.

Intention; creation; meditation.

The in breath is the vehicle that revitalises us with oxygen. The expansive quality of your in breath will determine the quantity of oxygen that you bring in to your lungs. Your body will naturally trigger a yawn , a means of getting you to take a bigger in breath, in response to the requirement for more oxygen. This response more readily occurs if you are feeling tired. The expansive quality of your lungs and your ability to breathe will determine the quantity of oxygen you can uptake and utilise effectively. Asthmatics know this story better than most as their lung capacity is monitored via their peak flow. This is a means of measuring the ability to force all the air out of the lungs as quickly as possible by breathing out in one big blow (this requires a deep breath in to prepare) The amount of oxygen forced out is then measured and is a guide as to how effectively the lungs are peforming. Your lungs along with your heart ensure an oxgen rich blood supply to replenish and renew vital organs, muscles and tissues throughout your body. You need oxygen and the ability to breathe to live.

Even though the process of gaseous exchange happens deep within us (see “The Power of the Out Breath) we also experience an exchange of our life force with what is outside of us.

Consider where you are inhaling and what you are exchanging. Are you breathing in cars, cities and carbonmonoxide in exchange for your vitality?

Every day, via our in breath we inhale the world and our surroundings. When we breathe in through the nose we experience our incredible sense of smell and the aroma’s that surround us and with an open mouth we even get  to taste them. Whether it is the scent of a rose or our favourite food cooking, we are provided with a “real” sensory story full of invaluable detail that informs us as to whether what we are inhaling and connecting with is helpful and healthy or potentially harmful. This part of our breath is part of our life preserving instinct. If it smells bad you won’t want to linger and if it tastes bad you certainly won’t continue to eat it!

The in breath is a truly unifying force. Through this life force we are connected to the world and to each other for not only are you breathing other peoples breath but they are breathing yours.  So answer this if you had to breathe in your own breath how would you like it to be? Stale? Struggling? Withholding? or fresh, free and life giving. It really is your choice.

Breathe in; breathe out; pause…