Jelly belly breath– The last two weeks of focus on the breath have been very eventful for me. Breath has been an important focus since I began regular yoga in 2002. I was—and still am at times a backwards breather, a shallow breather, and, before yoga, always a mouth breather. All of these breathing habits began about age 7 when I experienced my first asthma. I am offering myself here as a case study-perhaps helpful for a future student. It is a long road to good breath and when Ms M instructed us to breath normally to establish a base for other types of breath, I silently went into my small sinking place. Oh for normal. But recently I have made a small leap—our readings, our practice, my imagination. When you are trying to breath, you are trying too hard-this I know. Joanna Macy begins a meditation with the suggestion to ‘allow the earth to breath you’. I try to surrender to this idea but I am most challenged during asanas. And then lately the diaphragm has been calling for an image and I have answered with a lacy white bride’s jellyfish-lovely and strong in the ocean’s tidal pull. It slips up under my ribcage when I inhale and weaves its lacy fibers throughout my abdomen, anchoring me for the exhale. I think of the jellyfish and allow it to breath me – it seems less distant than the world- more of a one on one relationship. When I am able to get through a studio practice with ‘almost normal’ breath you can hear it in my OM or my chant, my voice resonant with a clear vibration. Its then I know I’m close. This past Sunday I felt we were all there at the closing- all becoming, all one in our breath.
I have a beautiful image for this post but alas I cannot cipher the transport 
