Lately, the breath has gotten a lot of press. 2020 seems to be the year of the breath, or perhaps more accurately, lack thereof. COVID-19, the global pandemic has affected millions of people across the world who have contracted the virus and struggled for breath. People have lost their lives, their loved ones, their livelihoods. In the midst of the virus crisis, we heard the haunting words, “I can’t breathe,” uttered by George Floyd as he was suffocated and publicly murdered under the knee of a white police officer. Our sense of physical and psychological safety has been severely compromised on a number of levels. The often overlooked luxury of breath has become the symbol of health, freedom, justice, and aliveness. As DJ D-Nice regularly reminded us this year, “Let it breathe.”
Read MoreThe past few weeks, this country has witnessed a storm of violence and devastation, anger and pain, rage and fear, denial and defensiveness. The racism and injustice we continue to encounter in our society and within ourselves is a desperate call to us for change. Yet, many people struggle to know how to respond or what we can do that will actually make a difference.
We must be honest with ourselves. True introspection requires the capacity to observe, to acknowledge and accurately identify what is (and has been) happening, and to be keenly self-aware. Perhaps then, we might understand where to begin.
Read More