divine breath

December 5, 2014

Soul Musings/Day 4: Giving The Gift of Presence

Lights

Giving presence is a gift to another and being present is a gift to yourself.  Today a very beloved friend learned that her eldest brother was in a car crash in which he was paralyzed from the neck down, and then taken off of life support.

I was with this friend all day today helping her move to a larger apartment before she was informed of this tragic news.  This evening I listened deeply, offered my loving assistance, and was painfully reminded once again how short and uncertain our lives really are. 

What are we doing when we say we are “too busy” to get together; are transfixed by our smart phones, Facebook, or e-mail; forget to look our friend or lover in the eyes and hold the gaze with a depth of intimacy and transparency; take for granted the astonishing beauty of our natural world; tell a child that we have “important things to do” when all they want is loving attention. 

In this moment as you are reading this take a full embodied inhale, hold for a pause and then with willingness to surrender exhale fully while being reminded of why you are here….that deep calling that has been there for lifetimes. 

Show up in the moment, hold someone’s hand when they are dying, create an inspired connection, allow for each and every moment to unfold with intimate attention, love with abandon, and listen…..listen deeply to the present and fully be the presence.

…..for our lives are gone so quickly.

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NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbott – http://www.GayeAbbott.com

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Use breath time out

Show up in the moment

Listen deeply to another

Create true connection

Holding someones hand when they are dying – why wait for that level of intimacy

Allow the moment to unfold and cherish it….our lives gone so quickly

May 28, 2011

Breathing In Solitude

Don’t surrender your loneliness

New Hemispheres Series by Pamela Sukhum

So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.

Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,

My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

by Shams al-Din Hafiz

 

Within solitude is found the deepest expression of our heart and soul….and it is here that we know ourselves as the fabric woven by God.

Being alone seems different from seeking solitude.  The first happens spontaneously most every day of our lives either physically, or in an emotional state of being.

The second occurs when we mindfully seek out a space within and without for reflection and deep inner rest – a refuge if you will within the state of loneliness.  Hafiz speaks of the state of loneliness as a rich source of communion with God/or source,  and asks that we not discard or run away from it, but allow it to ferment.

Breathing within this state of solitude takes on new and expanded dimensions as our focus shifts from external concerns and stimuli to watching the breath take form and shape moment to moment.  We may come face to face with the patterns of breathing that block us from vibrant life, or perhaps we watch as the small shallow breath drops softly down into the belly and brings us back to why we are here – back to our dreams and captive creative longings that can often be just a backdrop in the fabric of our lives.

In this place of solitude place your hands on your belly now and feel the warmth melt the hard protectiveness into a soft receptacle for the breath.  Allow this soft belly breath to remind your ribcage and chest to expand in all directions.   Watch, wait – even for just a moment in the life that stretches out before you – and know that it is now in this place of solitude that gifts are to be found.  Do not struggle.  Open the gate and walk barefoot on the soft path before you.   Be still…..and allow yourself to be breathed.

 

 

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February 7, 2011

Breathing Globally – Join the Dalai Lama

After my neighbors dog took me for a brisk walk along my country road this morning I was acutely aware of how intimately we are connected with all that breathes and is alive.  This weekend we have a unique opportunity to breathe with people all over the globe in synchronicity.  As ElevateUs states, “The tides are turning, in all walks of life and all corners of the planet. Humanity is stepping out of the shadows of ‘what has been’ by calling into question the very fundamentals – how we live, what we serve, who we are.”

Each of us can choose to be a part of this.  When you harmonize with others in a flow of breathing it unites us in a way that is beyond the mind, and connects on levels of the heart and beyond.  Breathing together can powerfully unite us and is an intimate way to deepen the awareness of the interconnection that is always there.  We all share the Earth’s gift of breath.

Let us join with the Dalai Lama this weekend, and with each other every day this year, to elevate the practices of love, compassion, abundance, and joy throughout the world.  The Universal Breathing Room at Do As One has partnered with the Dalai Lama who has called forth 10,000 monks to help initiate the teachings of the Buddha Maitreya.  This is the first time in history that a Dalai Lama has conducted this blessing, intended to elevate love and compassion for all people. Breathe with them at this link: http://www.elevate.us

Take this practice and come to the Universal Breathing Room frequently to simply breathe in flow with others worldwide on a daily basis.  There is a global map where you can see where people in other locations are also joining in, and 3 other “rooms” you can go to – the Full Spectrum Breathing Room, where you can harmonize with the chakra colors as you breathe; a Universal Laughter room; and a Universal Om Room.

Take 5 minutes a day to join in and check in with the energy, feelings, and insights that catch your awareness!
Take a Deep Breath NOW!

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:  www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

Most Recent Post: Make Love To Life!

September 5, 2010

SACRED BREATH – The Ground of Our Being

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,

Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion

or cultural system. I am not from the East

or the West, not out of the ocean or up

from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not

composed of elements at all. I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world or the next,

did not descend from Adam or Eve or any

origin story. My place is placeless, a trace

of the traceless. Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two

worlds as one and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner, only that

breath breathing human being.

There are so many ways that we can consider the breath as sacred.  The fact that all living things breathe in some manner – perhaps not with lungs – creates a very intricate network of interconnection.  Our last post quoting Richard Cawte reminds us that this sacred breath is shared, and connects all in an intimate embrace…one which we receive with every inhale and exhale.  As we breathe more fully we enliven every living thing.  We are meant to thrive and to create.  

Indigenous people globally accept the sacredness of the breath and the interconnection with the natural world. Some traditions, such as yoga, tai chi, and qi gong have studied it for 1,000’s of years, and in fact have created a science of breath.  In the Native American Medicine tradition “Divine Breath” is a noun. It means the manifestation of the divine spirit in all living beings.  It is also called “life breath”.  The name given it is “ni” or “nilch’i”.  As you listen to this short piece of Native American flute music by Darrel Whitewolf give yourself some moments to feel the sacred breath of the wind moving over the Earth and inside of you.

“We touch the sacred with each breath.  With each breath we just keep dipping into the sacred…  Breath is the vehicle to return to God (the Sacred).  This is the ground of all being. Breath is the vehicle that takes us beyond thought, form, and into direct experience.  The breath takes us beyond words, beyond our ideas, into our deepest truest nature.”

Frank Ostaseski, Founder of Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco and Metta Institute

Our life outside of the protection of the womb is defined by the breath.  When we first enter the outside world our lungs fill with breath and is most often expressed with the sound – sometimes very loudly –  of our voice.  When we leave this life the last thing that is heard is our final breath.  How could something that is with us our entire lives not be the sacred ground of all being.  Our lives are defined by each inhale and each exhale….the pauses being the opportunity for rest and stillness –  to feel the sacred ground of our being.  Beginning our day with the intention on deeply breathing, even for a few moments…and ending our day with the same attention to the breath…reminds us of who we are.

“ When you breathe deeply and fully, you are breathing the breath that feeds the Soul.  This energy is part of the spiritual force of the universal energy, and it enters your body with every breath.  The breath contains the vital energy of who you are.”

-Jennifer in Australia at www.awakenbreath.com

Deep Gratitude to those above that have inspired me this week.

Gaye

OTHER BLOGS: www.WildlyFreeWoman.com

August 28, 2010

INSPIRATION

Humpback Whale

“Your true support system is in each breath that you take.  It is your inspiration: the movement of air that spirals in and out of your mouth and lungs each second of every day.  It is the breathing-in of your Divine Self; your connection with Divine Mind.

And it doesn’t stop with you.  The breath you draw at this moment is the same breath I am drawing.  Wherever you are – whether you are in America or Fiji, Venezuela or Japan – you are breathing the very same breath.

Think about it for just a moment.  There is nothing between the air surrounding you and the air surrounding me.  It carries on in one seamless, invisible network of nitrogen, oxygen and other gasses.  It covers the whole Earth, permeating everything: even the waters of the ocean (there’s just a little more hydrogen down there) and the miles of frozen tundra.

It binds us together as surely as the moon draws the tides across the planet: moving to an unseen tune: guided by the Divine Design.

We are all inspired by the same force of life.

And it doesn’t stop with us humans, either!

The breath that is filling your lungs at this second is the very same breath that swirls around the lungs of the jaguar in the deepest corner of the rainforest and expands the bronchial tubes of the albatross as it wings its silent way far out to sea.  It inspires the tiniest pigmy shrew, which must eat every two hours if it is to survive.  It gives life to the seventy-foot whale, which must eat more than a million shrews could eat in their whole lives with one gulp of its gargantuan mouth!  

It gives colour to every plant and substance to every crustacean.  It touches us all in this instant.  We are all connected: always.  We just have to wake up to who we are.  And to do that, you must take the leap of faith that you took with that very first breath.  You must follow your own inspirations. “

Richard Cawte, Ph.D.   Excerpt from a new book being released soon!  Divine Path –  Stay tuned !!!   www.richardcawte.com

I start this post with Richard’s quote above for many reasons.  This past couple of weeks for me has been driven by “inspiration” and fueled by “intuition”.  Reaching Richard’s website by what I call “divine providence” as I explored one day, I was so taken by the work he is doing in the world that I wrote him an e-mail of gratitude.  Out of that e-mail has come a meaningful and delicious connection that has inspired me tremendously already, and has me more often utilizing my intuition and creative inspiration at every opportunity that I can.

As I read the passages that contained the excerpt above, tears streamed down my face.  To wake up to the immense interconnectedness of all living things is almost more than one can hold.  I do know that your breath – which is your inspiration and your creative expression in the world – is shared by all, including the earth and all of nature – expanding out into the immense universe.  We create it all by our thoughts and the actions stemming from those thoughts.

I invite you to take in the deepest, most expansive breath that is possible for you in this moment and remember….. as you exhale and come to that still pause at the end …. right before the next inspiration  – who and what you are sharing this breath with.  We in-spire each other….

Gaye Abbott, A Breath Inspired Writer

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