Riding the Waves of Respiration

June, 2025

“Breathing is the movement that is performed in respiration.”
Blandine Claude-Germain from The Anatomy of Breathing

I invite you to take a journey with your breath. Let’s begin by pausing, right where we are - seated, standing, or lying down. Feel free to close your eyes or soften your gaze. I’d like to share three questions I ask myself frequently throughout the day to help me arrive in the present moment:
         
Where are my feet? Without changing anything, notice how your feet touch whatever surface they are on.
Where is my seat? Notice where your bottom is in space and what it is touching.
Where is my breath? Your breath may have already grabbed your attention, like a big wave that suddenly swells up and then settles around you. Continue to sense your feet and your seat while you “ride the waves” of respiration - observing how the breath moves in and out of your body.

Notice if you prefer to breathe in through your nose or your mouth. There is no right or wrong way for air to move in the body; there is only how each breath wave wants to express itself in the moment it exists. Rarely are any two breath cycles the same.

Respiration is the process of moving air from outside of the body into the lungs so oxygen can get into the cells inside the body and moving air back out of the lungs, expelling waste products like carbon dioxide from the cells to the outside of the body. Breathing is what we call this constant motion as air comes in and out of the lungs, 12-15 times a minute, on average.

If it is comfortable for you, try placing one hand lightly on your chest and the other hand on your belly. Notice what happens under your hands as you breathe in… as you breathe out. Do you sense any movement in the chest? Any movement in the belly? What moves first when you inhale, the belly or the chest? What moves first when you exhale, the belly or the chest?

Each breath wave rises out a sea of pure potential, crests, and then subsides, dissolving back into the waters of formlessness. Each breath wave takes on a unique fluid shape with each inhalation and then uniquely dissolves that shape with each exhalation back into the sea of potential as the next breath wave begins to form.

Move your hands to the sides of your ribs. Do the ribs change as the air moves into the lungs, filling the space underneath the ribs? What happens to the ribs when the air moves out?
Breathing is not something we have to think about for it to happen. It is automatic, involuntary, and it changes constantly, adapting to our activities, thoughts, and emotions. Interestingly, breathing is an automatic process that we can consciously shape from inside our bodies which is how we learn to make sounds, to speak, and to sing.

Let’s explore these breath waves a bit further by adding some sound vibrations. Place your hands anywhere on your body that requires no effort. Try breathing in through your nose (as if smelling a flower) while thinking “Sa,” and then let the breath go out with a nearly silent “Hah” – a breathy sound will fill the back of your throat when the lips are closed. Breathe in again with Sa, noticing if there’s any sense of lengthening or a rising up towards the crown of your head as the air spirals up through your nostrils. Then notice what happens in your body as that breath wave goes out with a long, gentle Hah.

Breathe with the Sa and Hah for a few more breath cycles on your own.

Now get curious about what might be happening in the turn-around spaces in between each inhale and exhale. Is there air still flowing or is it momentarily absent? Like being on a swing, there is a moment of suspension at the end of each part of the breath wave that is called an apnea. Try extending these little natural apneas by simply enjoying them, enjoying the sensation of suspension with the fullness of each inhale and the emptiness at the end of each exhale.

Now let’s pause and rest. Let go of the Sa and Hah. Let your attention be wide and spacious. What is happening that is interesting? Be with what is happening in your body without exerting any effort. In Continuum we call this Open Attention or Open Awareness.

Let’s complete this breathing exploration by placing your hands wherever your interest has led your attention. Breathe in through your nose and exhale with a series of long, slow, gentle HUMs. Pause in Open Attention. Move your hands to where your awareness leads you and repeat the HUMMING again. Trust your own timing and stay with this process until you feel satisfied, grounded and stabilized, and ready to meet the rest of your day.

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