Allow the rhythm [of breath] you have established with your breathing to be the rhythm of your practice.

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat:  Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga

Day 258 – Donna Farhi calls full body breathing “an extraordinary symphony of both powerful and subtle movements that massage our internal organs, oscillates our joints, and alternatively tone and release all the muscles in the body.” Breathing is, indeed, a “full participation in life.”

I am just a few hours away from the first day of school.  I meditate using this extraordinary symphony, allowing each breath to flow into the next, noticing the subtle pauses, the flashes of anxiety accompanying first-day jitters.  I let go into it, become absorbed by it.  My breath becomes effortless and my mind follows.

Let this pace continue into my day.  Presence.  Calmness.  Peace.  A full participant in life.