Welcoming the Universal Breath in this Time of New Beginnings

Recently, my daughter came home after a hard day feeling scattered and overwhelmed. She needed me to listen to her without giving advice, so I focused on giving her space while I grounded in my own breath. I’ve learned that, when I do this, she will synchronize with my breath without realizing it. So I kept breathing while she cycled through anger and sadness and self-loathing. Finally she came to tears and on the other side of this she was like a new person. 

At that moment, I realized that my daughter and I were tapping into the Universal breath. And that the Universal breath is a gift we’ve been given over the last twelve months. 

It’s hard to believe it’s been an entire year since the pandemic lockdown began and life came to a standstill. As I look back, I wonder: who was I a year ago? Who was that?

Like most of us, I initially dealt with frustration and anger. My new house needed one repair after another and it felt like it was falling down around me. It seemed the whole world was crumbling. 

The pandemic changed everyone; we saw the rhythm of our home lives disrupted, we lost touch with friends, we felt the pain of watching our children miss milestones and celebrations that we used to take for granted. 

We learned to live with the unpredictable. We got through the first shutdown. We felt the pause and had to breathe into the stillness. Then we went through a slow, hopeful opening, only to be shut down again. 

In such an emotional time, our souls were revealed. And now, it seems that the standstill is nearly behind us as we stand on the brink of a new beginning. 

So what now? 

Before the pandemic we were collectively on the hamster wheel, addicted to the chaos and busyness of the world. Now the energy of Spring is upon us and it makes us want to move, to do things. 

I have to remind myself: Don’t get caught up again. Don’t slide back into the addiction of busyness. 

My work is to give myself time to meet my soul through my breath. Whether it’s ten minutes, or thirty, or an hour, I have to value myself enough to make time for self-care. It’s my responsibility to step into the “I AM” center. 

From that place of centeredness, I can access the Universal breath. 

It’s a three-part process:

Trust the breath.

Surrender to the breath.

Allow the breath to move through the body. 

In my virtual sessions with clients, I can see how the Universal breath leads to healing. I see the change in their eyes, in their demeanor, and in their breath when they let go. We are all rhythmic beings and we have all experienced a worldwide pandemic at the same time. What a uniting force it’s been!

So as we look ahead to post-pandemic life, we have a unique opportunity to tap into our shared experience. We can intentionally slow ourselves down to connect to this new rhythm. It coincides wonderfully with the rise of the divine feminine. 

As Marion Woodman writes in Conscious Femininity: 

The feminine isn’t interested in being at the top. She’s dedicated to life in the moment; she takes time to look at trees and flowers; she takes time to build deep relationships, takes time to be carried by that other force that trusts that there’s inherent meaning to this life. 

As we move into a new paradigm, may we embrace this new pace. There is no going back, and we hold an amazing healing power in our hands. It’s as close as our next breath.