A little over 12 years ago I began studying tantra. Tantra is a Sanskrit word that means to expand or to weave. Many tantra texts state that, “Nothing exists that is not divine.” And, that includes the breath. My journey with tantra began after taking a class in NYC on the art of learning to fall in love with yourself. One night after class I shared a cup of coffee with one of the facilitators. She asked what had inspired me to take the class. My answer was simple but complex as I responded, “I just know there is more to living than what I’m doing. I want more.”
Not long after I was sitting with my first tantra teacher pouring my heart out. I felt his hand on my knee as he gently invited me to breathe. Gasping for air with tears streaming down my face I remember being startled by his invitation. And, then he said, “You’re holding your breath-Breathe.” Until that moment I hadn’t even realized I was holding it. As I pulled air into my starving lungs I felt the tension begin to leave my body. And, then as I listened to his guidance I took several more deep breaths into my body. As our session completed he gave me homework. “Remember to breathe.”
Obviously, we have to breathe to continue to live. However, the idea of consciously tapping into the experience of breathing to go into a meditative state was a radical one for me at the time. Now-all these years later I sometimes still catch myself holding my breath or breathing shallow. Utilizing breath as a practice helps me to find my center. Finding and accessing my center through breath is one of the ways I stay balanced. As a way to go deeper into the breath I began asking questions. Surprisingly, I began to get answers.
During one of my meditations I found myself asking, “How can I learn to love myself more?” This is the answer that came to me-
Everything begins and ends with the breath.
Know that with each inhalation and exhalation your relationship with your center deepens.
Be fully present in this moment. At its core, this moment is the only one that is guaranteed to us.
Each breath is an invitation to the source of all into a deeper relationship with yourself and the universe.
Over and Over again practice the tool of surrendering to the great individual and collective experiment of this evolution of your soul, through the lens of your body.
Your body holds all the answers as long as you’re willing to listen.
Listen to the deep truth that, “all is one” and “one is all” and that you hold your own uniquely individual wisdom.
Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Laughter is a great equalizer. Do it often.
Love is the most powerful energy in the world.
Continue to open your eyes and heart to yourself and all the creatures of this planet and beyond with the energy of love that is always available to you.
Face yourself in the mirror over and over again. And, promise to hold good will for yourself no matter what is reflected back.
Surrender your old ideas and patterns that no longer serve you in being able to be in this moment fully, so that the new can be born in the spaciousness that is created.
Do this with the knowledge that the most powerful energy in the universe, which is love and its expression is available to you always in all ways.
Trust that there is always more at play than what you can see and feel in the moment you are currently in.
When you trust source and the universal consciousness that is love, you are learning to trust and love yourself more deeply.
In the experience of learning deeper self-love and trust, you will continue to experience more ease in your life at every level. Understand that more ease doesn’t mean easy. Ease brings more balance. Balance brings more precision and clarity to your life. Precision and clarity allow you the spaciousness to make decisions that better serve you.
You are a multifaceted being that includes both a feminine and a masculine that are parts of a whole that is evident both within you and around you.
Vow to continuing to go deep into the inner marriage between the masculine and the feminine that is within you so that you can learn to be in better relationship with yourself and those around you.
With each breath you take, you have access to the powerful energy that your body has so that you are more able and willing to receive the waterfall of wisdom your consiousness pours into you every day, at every moment of this evolution, of your soul, in this lifetime and beyond.
Trust that using breath as a practice will continue to transform you over and over again.
Be grateful for the current evolution of your soul’s journey, having your body’s experience, in this lifetime and beyond.
Trust that from the first breath to the last that your life is unfolding exactly as it was meant to.
Spend time in silence every day and listen to what emerges.
Remember, the world is a place of beauty and pain. Be open enough to the idea that both are necessary.
Love,
The Divine-