Breath and Purpose

Years ago when I gave up smoking, the hardest thing about stopping for me was not the taste or smell or even the breaking of an enjoyable,  despicable habit, but contrary to any medical advice ever given, it was the way I felt smoking helped me to breathe. I smoked when I studied or wrote papers for work as I felt that the act actually helped me to think. Yes, I am full aware that every inhalation of the poisonous stick was filling my lungs with toxins but as I puffed, I consciously took the time to inhale and then to exhale.

Years later I breathe in and breathe out through my nose at Pilates and I huff cathartically as I run. In between there have been times of holding my breath and not being able to get to the bottom of it. I breathe through pain and a loud combination of ‘Phew, Shew & Hoo’ has become one of my child-friendly, trademark sounds.

My late father, (a chain smoker as an aside), used to phone me in the middle of his night when he couldn’t sleep. He would share his news of the day which more and more frequently included a list of people who had died, people in his community and famous people from yesteryear. When I used to enquire about how or why they had died, his standard answer was always “they died from lack of breath”. Many a true word said in jest.

A chance invitation to a zoom lecture last week inspired my theme of respiration further.

The speaker explained the difference between the physical body and the soul, describing the soul as one’s essence, who we really are. He went on to describe this essence as a spark igniting a drive to seek meaning and purpose.

He quoted from the book of Genesis saying how when God made man “he blew into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It was when he made the clear connection between our breath and our soul that something in my understanding shifted. Our breath is our point of connection to our soul.

The Hebrew words for breath and soul are almost identical

Our breath connects us to our life force and to our purpose and our passion.

That is why I felt I needed to inhale to think creatively.

That is why women use their breath to birth a new life into the world.

Breath is cleansing

That is why I exhale loudly when stressed.

The rhythm of life is really the sound of the taking in and letting go of our breath, connecting deeply to our soul with each movement of the chest, belly or whole body.

Without it, there is death.

This breath soul connection explains why when we aren’t in touch with our essence, living a life without purpose and passion, people do die from lack of breath.