The Same Breath

 

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart:  I am, I am, I am.  ~ Sylvia Plath

I am fortunate. On any given day I can throw open the windows of my home and inhale the richly aromatic scent of eucalyptus.  It is just one of the many benefits to living along the central California coast. I try not to take it for granted.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

Each breath reminds me of the synergetic relationship we share with the world around us.  It is easy, in this technology driven, “first-world” fast and furious day and age to forget that we are a community of life.  Easy to forget that we share this planet with others, that we feed and flourish from and for each other. That we all breathe the same breath.

To the Raramuri people of the Northern Sierra Madre, Mexico, this concept is called Iwigara. According to Enrique Salmon, a Raramuri anthropologist, "Iwigara helps a person relate to all forms of life because of that central notion of breath, and so the rocks, the plants, the animals, the wind, the waters, everything is sharing the same breath with us, and so we are a constantly connected to everything around us."

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

 

We are all related.  Share breath with the waters. Fill your lungs with the winds. Inhale the beauty of each seedling, the wonder of each woodland creature. Exhale and know that you are a part of something larger, a world breathing harmoniously in the steady song of life.

 “Lullaby”

The earth is your mother,

she holds you.

The sky is your father,

he protects you.

Sleep,

sleep.

Rainbow is your sister,

she loves you.

The winds are your brothers,

they sing to you.

Sleep,

sleep.

We are together always

We are together always

There never was a time

when this

was not so.

Poem by Leslie Marmon Silko

Have a beautiful day,

Today I’m grateful for:

• My dad – Happy Father’s Day!

• My Hubby – Happy Father’s Day to you too!

• Hummingbirds visiting our new feeder

• Afternoon naps

Linking up with Little Red House for Mosaic Monday!