Breath retention

Holding a breath is like living a life.

When we begin the hold we have the most oxygen and the least CO2. Therefore, the tendency is for the mind to wander.

In life, movement is like oxygen and the rising proximity to the end of life is represented by rising CO2 levels.

At first, we have plenty of resource and range of movement. This is the childhood of the breath.

As we hold, the oxygen gets used up. CO2 builds in the system and will eventually reach a point where we either consciously choose to breathe, reflexively breathe, or pass out.

In life the range and ease of movement diminishes toward the elder decades. We will require more effort to move and more recuperation from the trauma of having moved. We will either continue to move up the curve of diminishing returns or ramp up the speed of our physiological aging.

As we approach the point where CO2 levels are near toxic, the body will produce messages to remind us of what it perceives as imminent doom. The longer we hold, the harder these messages are to ignore.

Toward the end of life, friends will pass, the body will become more fibrous, and traumas will have been endured.

The voice that tells us that our life is coming to an end is the same voice that tells us our breath is coming to an end.

This is a voice worth cultivating a relationship with.

It ushers us into, through, and from this life.

Breathe into it.