I wonder what springs to mind for you when you hear someone mention "the breath"? What's the feeling-tone for you? Boredom? Comfort? Resistance? Curiosity?

We explored this in a group of friends recently as we meditated and discussed. We experimented with making space for the breath in our bodies by making micro adjustments in our sitting posture, locating the breath in the back of the body, and having a sense of the back straight, the head "free-floating".

We shared different experiences from the past. Some find it reassuring to become aware of the breath, whilst others had found it anxiety provoking - in its extreme, to the point of a panic attack, ambulance, A & E. A reminder of the delicate dance of the chemistry between oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the havoc and utter fear when our own anxiety trips the system, transposing these two chemicals. For some, their meditation had had to be anchored for a while on a different focus, such as the sound of birdsong, moment by moment, or the sensations in their feet.

A great help for me has been the phrase "not so much breathing as being breathed", which tunes me in to the elasticity of my own body - lungs, belly, fascia, skin - all moving with the breath spontaneously.

Then, sometimes, at a certain point, I feel intimately connected with the world around, aware, at some level, of the planet's oxygen nourishing my own blood, my own cells - every one of them, and my brain, and its role in keeping me alive and happy. I love the idea of a fair exchange, with the carbon dioxide breathed out contributing to the photosynthesis of plant life around me. And then - the plants provide more nourishment by way of food, or more oxygen!

Ancient writings talk about the focus of the breath bringing us to a sense of wellbeing, I have to say that this is very welcome in my life where my attention can get pulled every which way, at times to a point of craziness. Another translation of this "focus" is "collectedness". I like that.