Breath: The Spirit of Life

Mt Shasta California, ink brush sketch by Bob Hare © 1999

Meditating on my breath this morning I came away with a few insights on the importance of conscious breathing. We rarely think about our breath until it is taken away from us by disease, accident or death and then it may be too late. Our word "spirit" comes to us from the Latin "spiritus" which means breath, soul, courage or vigor. Every culture and religion seems to equate breath with spirit. Our individual lives begin with our first startled in-breath at birth and end with our last ex-spiration at death. In between birth and death the spiritual umbilical cord of breath animates, organizes and vitalizes the cells, organs and systems of our body. Breathing is far more than an oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide exchange system. Breath is the vehicle for the exchange of psychic life energy known in India as "prana", in China as "chi", in Japan as "ki" and in Polynesia as "mana". Food feeds our physical body but breath feeds our spiritual being—our very consciousness.

In Genesis 2:7-8 the Bible makes it clear that there are two levels of life creation and sustenance—the physical body of becoming and the spiritual body of being: “…then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” So our vital breath umbilical connects us in the vertical plane with our Source, Sustainer and Goal. If we try to live our lives solely on the horizontal plane of material becoming our egos can find no lasting satisfaction or meaning—for this is merely existence and we all know that our physical existence is limited by the mysteries of time, loss and circumstance. 

The daily news feed shows us an endless world drama of equally-desperate victims and victimizers of ego ignorance, greed and violence. Our astounding levels of mental illness and addiction testify to the anxiety and meaninglessness of modern material life—however abundant the consumer offerings. We also see how we are destroying the diversity, beauty and vitality of the Earth itself through human ignorance, greed and violence. Materialism, commercialism and egotism kill soul-life. In trying to follow the ego’s demands to look good, be right, and be in control we create pollution, war, injustice and grid-locked politics.

The antidote to this ego alienation and self-created suffering is regaining our soul-life. And the first step in regaining our soul-life is learning how to simply “be”—be thankful, be satisfied, be happy. We have forfeited our birthright as human beings to become "human doings.” Lasting happiness is never about having or doing it is about simply being. Our breath is a direct conduit to our state of being. When we are anxious our breathing is shallow and quick. When we are depressed it may be heavy and labored. Unconscious breathing locks us into any negative state we are in. Conscious deep belly breathing opens up the channels of spiritual energy flowing into us to heal mind, body and soul.

With healthy conscious breathing we become aware and thankful for the gift of each moment. We become present to the in and out flow of our lives. Our body is vitalized, our heart is happy, our mind is stilled and our spirit is awake! We can then give back to Spirit in celebration through our voice, our songs, and our shared cries, prayers and laughter the Love we are given in each divine breath.