Let Breath Breathe You

I wonder sometimes how much resistance is simply a problem with perspective. Not a conscious perspective, like “how you look at things” but a true, directional perspective. An illusion of where the “me” sits in the center of things. An overarching belief that you are actually doing the thing you believe you are doing, rather than it being done to you. What does it feel like if we approach existence and experience as it is being done? If we are being done?

Let life live you. 

It’s so natural to hold life tightly. Cause and effect seems so real, so actual on a day to day basis. We make decisions, life happens. But how much is actually in our control? Are we making all the decisions that happen in everyday life? Do our decisions actually control the outcomes of our lives? Or are we being lived somehow. What does it feel like to resist the path our lives are taking? What does it feel like to flow as if living is happening to us? As a witness to life. 

Let love love you. 

It’s so natural to search for love. Even in everyday life we strive to find the happiness in things. The right interactions, the right appreciation. We gratitude journal and set reminders to connect with loved ones and build community. But in our striving to love, we often miss the love that is already here. The gentle smile of a stranger. The caring hello of a colleague. The compassionate care of a loved one. All taken for granted while we grasp at an illusion of a greater love. 

Let breath breathe you.

It’s so natural to imagine yourself as the one who is breathing. Even in this very moment, if you focus on your breath, it likely feels as if you are breathing. You initiate the breath, you hold the breath, you release the breath. But who is doing it when you’re not looking? Is it you who is breathing, or are you being breathed. Let the reverse be true. Let go and let the breath breathe you. Let it fill you with release and acceptance. Let it breathe you entirely, filling your being with surrender. 

The concept of wu wei is central to Daoist philosophy and is best translated as effortless action. It’s not passive, but action taken in harmony with the natural flow. It’s the concept that when you align yourself with the Dao, you find a flow with life. Actions begin to happen almost spontaneously, without the illusion of decision. They are obvious. There was never any option. LIfe begins to live itself. To live you. Love, begins to love you. Breathe, begins to breathe you. And you are left with a beautiful existence that could never be anything else.