Let’s continue the tradition this year. Here are 22 one-sentence breathing ideas to kick off 2022. Enjoy!
***
1. Demonstrations of breathing are small compared with the great thing that is hidden behind them.
(Inspired by a Khalil Gibran Quote)
2. Breathing doesn’t heal you; it gives your body the environment it needs to heal itself.
3. We can be lost in breath, without knowing we have been breathing.
(Inspired by The Things You See Only When You Slow Down)
4. If you know only one breathing method, then you really know none; if you understand one breathing method, then you really know them all.
5. Breathing is the most direct path to practicing philosophy in our lives.
6. If breath is life, then optimal breathing is optimal living.
7. Science is timely; personal experience is timeless.
8. Every method works when used correctly, but no method works for everybody.
9. What one teacher says is essential, another will say is useless.
10. Breathing is a pair of leather shoes for life.
(Idea from The Tibetan Yoga of Breath)
11. The most practical tip for breathing is this: make it quiet and subtle.
12. To breathe in a “quiet and subtle way” takes deliberate practice—effort leads to effortlessness.
13. Breathing may be my 70% solution but only your 20% solution.
14. Breathe less, sometimes more; breathe slow, sometimes fast.
15. We breathe through each nostril separately so they function better together as a whole.
16. Read about breathing but, most importantly, embody that education through practice.
17. Start by starting; one minute is always better than none-minutes.
18. A simple rule for getting started: 40% of your breath should be inhaling, 60% should be exhaling.
19. Holding implies tension and effort; pausing is natural and effortless.
20. Breath and mind are inseparable: This means you can use your breath, to change your mind, to change your breath for the better.
(A play on this line from Neurodharma: “Neurons that fire together, wire together. This means that you can use your mind, to change your brain, to change your mind for the better.”)
21. The goal of a breathing practice is better mindless breathing.
22. The joy of breathwork is breathing.