Breathing Lessons

I went swimming today. It was the first day since the end of April, but I’ve gone for longer spells before. I noticed something as I swam. It was a little hard to breathe.
In yoga and meditation, we talk a lot about breathing. Breathing is something we can’t help but take for granted . Yet, when we focus on this very basic function, it helps us tie into our bodies, clear the mind and generally assess where we are in that moment. By paying attention to our breath we are able to sustain poses longer or back off, as needed.

This translates off the mat during times of stress. It’s hard to sustain the levels of high anxiety we ratchet ourselves up to while focusing on breathing. Sure, the word “calm” may not enter our mindset in these moments, but we are at least able to step back from the edge. Inhaling deeply tends to lower our emotional or mental exertion whereas exhaling forcefully helps to cool the body.

But what brought my attention to my breath today was the difficulty I had with it. Swimming laps, I seemed to need air more frequently and holding my breath for any length of time seemed too much to ask. It’s at this point that I usually get frustrated at myself, the sport and life in general. Perhaps because I had a yoga class the night before, I paused to consider other options. When we have difficulty breathing during asanas, we are encouraged to back off. “It’s too much” the body says, and we abide. Why should this be any different? I backed off and voila, easier to breathe.

This wasn’t a nicely tied up bow, however. I continued to have trouble with getting air to my lungs and even as I sit here now, I find my lungs a little heavy. I’m pretty sure this is a reaction to being back in a chlorinated pool after time away. As to why it’s bothering me this time as opposed to others, who knows. I just know right now my body is asking me to slow down and pay attention. So without getting annoyed or overly worried, I’m just going to listen.