Breathing

 

Air.

It is something we don’t think about. It just floats around all of us. It’s invisible. It is tasteless. It is colorless.

Without we wouldn’t exist.

With all the mask wearing and talk of hospitals and ventilators and ultimate suffocation, I started to listen to my own breathing.

I ride a bike everyday just to get all the parts moving. External muscles stretch more than sitting in a chair. The fresh air also awakens the brain so not as to get run over.

The breathing comes naturally. If it is hot or the ride is a struggle, the mouth opens to take in more oxygen. If everything is moving smoothly the action of breathing in and out is not noticed.

Somewhere along my ride I make an intentional effort to take in a deep breath. I hold it for a minute then exhale. I may do this several times or only once. At the same time I open my eyes wide behind my sunglasses to feel the wind against my face.

Some say Yoga is about understanding your body and breathing. I agree with that but can’t get into a lotus position.

Recently I’ve been listening to other people breath. Listen to singers pause to take a breath. Radio broadcasters also have to stop their non-stop chatter to breath. How does the engineer cover that gasp?

Phone calls are so distorted and the jabber is so fast it is hard to tell the health of the other person over the line. Up close the sound of whizzing tells the effort of breathing.

Yawning and sneezing are also signs of uncontrolled intake and output of air from the body. Snoring is just loud breathing. Strenuous exercise wears out the lungs before the muscles.

When out of breath, you can slow down until your catch your breath.

Keep breathing.

You take my breath away.