I came across a book

titled BREATH while creating an Amazon order and read enough of it in the sample pages that I added it to the order.

I never paid much attention to breathing, but when I began yoga for the first time, I read a tad about it while learning poses. Somewhere, I read about the benefits of proper breathing during yoga and how good it is for the body—for organs and such. I have since searched for the article to no avail. It’s why the book’s title intrigued me.

So I read the following, written a few weeks ago and getting dusty in my electronic binder:

our true nature …

I have never understood the duality of yoga. By that, I mean what I practice and what it is intended to be. I never fully grasped the concept, perhaps because I didn’t want to or wasn’t ready. But last night, I read three articles that opened my mind.

The body exercises are only part of the experience, not the whole or even half the experience. It can be enough, but why stop there? I could go on an hour tangent but shall not. We stop because we want to go away from what is genuine and natural. Okay, I’m done.

the original yoga drive

was for health reasons, then turned into flexibility and strength. A few weeks ago, I learned that yoga was initially and essentially about spirit but couldn’t quite connect the act of improving my body with improving inside. H-E-L-L-O, right?

So I fell asleep content to have at last got it. I had heard and read it before, but that first article I read made sense to my mind. It must have been very well written, I guess. The magazine is from 2017 — listen, I have a few magazines from the ’90s, okay? I cull magazines now and then, but some are just keepers. As I tidied up, I discovered a trove of magazines that looked untouched. This was one of them. And it made it to the coffee table last week. Thankfully, I opened it last night.

There are various yoga disciplines. One of them is an eight-fold path. I like that. Looking through the article, I see I must re-read it while fully alert and not cozy in bed.

i have been in an unmooring and uprooting mood. it is time to step out of the boat.

Have I stepped out of the boat? No. Am I afraid? No, just cautious. Because I don’t trust? No, because I want to do it right, but

what is right?

A wonderful sense of belonging is swirling around me. I can almost see it. Know it’s there — it is always there. I mean, here.

The Great Path is simple and direct

yet people love to take the side routes

TAO v 53
Searching for an image for this post, I found a few yoga and breathing photographs that induced me to get off my chair and try the poses — will incorporate them into my routine.