Day 17: Elder Muse – Breath of Joy

What if the breath was a pathway to joy? 

There is a very old Chinese saying that says, “One who half breathes, half lives.”   When you are feeling fatigue, lethargy, slight depression, or inability to focus have you ever taken a Breath Break? 

You may find that your breathing has some restrictions. The good news is that you can choose to change that in any given moment. Shallow, upper chest, or restricted breathing represents so many things.  It is a pattern not in alignment with well being, but instead restriction, limitation, and shutting down on life – YOUR LIFE!

Have you ever held your nose and tried to taste something?  Or maybe you did that when you were young and your parents wanted you to eat something that you didn’t want to eat…so you held your nose and ate it because you couldn’t taste it, right?!

Shutting down on the breath shuts down more than just the breath.  It obviously impacts your health and aliveness, but it also shuts down your joy and pleasure of living,  being in the moment, your creativity, and your ability to “taste life”.

As a yoga therapist I always felt that restoring a full embodied breath was the most basic foundation for health. The stresses of life can potentially lock down this very breath that we were innately born with.

Below is a practice that I regularly taught students and clients. Breath of Joy has the power to refresh and renew bringing not only fresh oxygen into your body, but a much needed energy boost and even an attitude adjustment.

Let me know if you try it!

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http://gayeabbott.net/books/

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You can find ALL of the 31-Days Elder Muse posts in the archives here: https://wildlyfreeelder.com/2022/12/

Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 12/17/22

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