We celebrate love in February. It is an odd concept, that we need a month, a day and many commercial reminders to celebrate love, to celebrate the only thing (apart from breathing) we came to do on this Planet. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for abolishing Valentine’s day, I am just summoning us all to open our hearts and minds every day. Easier said than done, but there are ways. One of the ways of doing it is with conscious, mindful breathing. As 13th-century poet Rumi said: ”A Breath of love can take you all the way to infinity.”

In every breath of yours I can find myself, in every breath of mine you can find you. 

For years in my yoga classes when I asked my students to take a deep breath in, we all were aware that we were inhaling a bit of each other, and with every exhale we were giving back a bit of ourselves to the world. If you let yourself contemplate how truly interconnected our breathing is (and I mean not only the interconnectedness defined by the exchange that happens when plants supply us with the needed oxygen and we give the carbon dioxide back to them, but that too, of course!) you will become aware that we breathe each other. Almost literally. So, whether we want it or not, with our breathing we form each other’s reality, and (I think) carry the responsibility that comes with the breaths we take in and also give back to the world. And for the thoughts we send back into the world with our exhales. So, let it be love. If possible. 

One of my most treasured poems is a short one by Thich Nhat Hanh (from a book  “Call me by My True Names – The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh”, Parallax Press, 2005.) I read that poem as an affirmation and an invitation or a gentle directive (to be more precise) to love, inter-be, breathe and heal. Like we can use our breath and intention to heal ourselves, our thoughts and our bodies, we can use that breath as a pathway to heal others as well: with every exhale sending love to those around us, near and far, to those who agree with us and to those who disagree, to those we love and to those we are only trying to love or finally learning to love, as we are all here together in this interrelationship. Inter-connected. On this Planet. On February 14th and on every other day.

Interrelationship

You are me, and I am you.

Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”?

You cultivate a flower in yourself,

so that I will be beautiful.

I transform the garbage in myself,

so that you will not have to suffer.

I support you;

You support me.

I am in this world to offer you peace;

You are in this world to bring me joy.

There is this note after the poem in the book:

  1. Written during a retreat for psychotherapists held in Colorado in response to a statement by Fritz Perls, ”You are you, and I am me, and if by chance we meet, that’s wonderful. If not, it couldn’t be helped.”

Written by Indra Strong, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher. Photo Credit: Liam Strong.

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