Oddychasz? [Are You Breathing?]
Are you breathing? With this question you become aware of your breath. Are you breathing? It’s strange, uncanny really, now that you think about your breath keeping you alive. Like the heartbeat, breath happens on its own, because of the wisdom of nature. When you run or feel afraid, your breath speeds up. It calms down when you sleep, unless, of course, you are having a bad dream. Inhale, exhale, the whole time. You just breathe. Only when meditating do you feel the miracle of your body filling with oxygen. It is only then you that you consciously control the breath and that it is controlled by your mind. Imagine now, that your body forgets about the breath and that your mind has no sway.
Joanna Bator, fragment of an essay “Are you breathing?”
Available in the following editions
