Breath

I learned to breathe when I was over 40 years old. I really did. Prior to that I was inhaling and exhaling but I was not consicous of breath, of its life force. I would breathe open-mouthed with shallow inhalations, never deep into my belly. From time to time, I would try to breathe with my mouth shut but I felt like I was suffocating, like I couldn't breathe. I attributed my inability to breathe through my nose to my nose. I thought I was naturally congested and had a vague recollection of an allergist when I was a child, suggesting so. And so, I believed.

I remember the first time my belly expanded with breath. I was in yoga class. I was in savasana, not a pose in which instructors generally comment or adjust, but that day, Melissa saw the contraction and expansion and drew my attention to it. I am grateful. I can fall into old patterns of stress-breathing but the knowledge of how a deep breath feels is with me and I know its calming effect.

Today, Melissa taught her last class at our yoga studio, at least for a while. She is moving to another city and it is a passage for her and the yogis she has influenced. The class was fun, with experienced practioners alternating between focus and pulling fun on Melissa. We all laughed together - all fifty of us, some taking her yoga class for the first time, others for the nth time.

Namaste, Melissa, and thank you for accidentally stepping on my loose toenail today when we hugged. Just another way in which you help me shed layers of myself....