If you haven’t yet listened to the Life Breathes episode, I invite you to do so when the time feels right.This meditation is offered as a companion to that story—something you can return to whenever you feel the need to breathe with life.
This is an invitation to explore breathing not just as a personal rhythm, but as participation in a larger symphony—the breath of all life. Like all invitations, you can accept it, set it aside, or return to it when you're ready.
There is no right way to do this.Just listen. Feel. Breathe.
If you find yourself struggling, that’s okay. Pause. Return when you’re in a space that feels more resonant. And if this nourishes you, come back to it as often, as slowly, and as freely as you need.
Let us begin.
Take a slow, deep breath in…And out.
Feel the air move through you—a living river connecting your body to all breathing life.
Feel what you receive from breathing.
Feel what your breathing may give to others.
Feel how breathing finds you, even when you’re not paying attention.
As you breathe, imagine this:
Your body is made of stars and water, air and light.
Feel the stardust flowing in, through, and around you.
Feel how your body is —and is becoming—flowing stardust.
Feel the oceanic waters that shaped you.
Let the memory of ancient seas flow through your cells.
Feel how you are—and are becoming—flowing water.
Feel the air—breathed out by trees, stones, and skies—entering your lungs. Feel how you are—and are becoming—flowing air.
Feel the warmth of sunlight—our Grandmother Sun’s radiant gift—dancing across your skin.
Feel how you are—and are becoming—light.
Breathe…You are not breathing alone.
Feel that truth in each breath.
You are breathing with trees.
With tides.
With the molten heart of Mother Earth.
With the fiery brilliance of Grandmother Sun.
Breathe in—receive the fiery gifts of oxygen, nitrogen, and beyond, born in the furnaces of our source universe.
Breathe out—give back to all breathing life.
Now zoom out.
In your mind’s eye, observe from above your body.
Farther still—until you see our beautiful, breathing Mother Earth.
Observe her rhythms on her terms.
Feel how her breathing echoes in your own.
Breathe with the trees, grasses, and green siblings—phytoplankton, ferns, forests.
Breathe in—receive their gift.Breathe out—offer yours in return.
Feel the gratitude that may rise from this sacred exchange.
Now feel the breath of Earth’s waters: rivers, lakes, and vast, swirling oceans.
Hold the Pacific Ocean in your mind’s eye.
Breathe in with the rising tide along the California coast.
Breathe out with the falling tide.
Let your breath resonate with these global pulses.
Notice any stirrings of wonder… .
Now, breathe with the mountains.
Feel erosion and uplift in their endless dance.
Breathe in with rain and snow wearing them down.
Breathe out with volcanic force raising them up.
Feel how these movements shape climate, weather, and the nutrients that make your life possible.
Let awe and gratitude arise, if it wishes.
Now breathe with Earth’s shifting crust.
Feel the slow churn of her molten heart.
Imagine the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge expanding.
As you breathe out, feel Atlantic Ocean growing.
As you breathe in, feel Pacific Ocean shrinking, making way for her sister, Atlantic.
Sense the continents in motion—past, present, future.
Let yourself marvel at the deep time cycles beneath your feet.
Cycles that hold you up, breathe beneath you, and will one day remake the land itself.
Breathe with Mother Earth.
Forests exhaling.
Oceans inhaling.
Volcanoes exhaling.
Plates inhaling.
Air, water, stone, and fire…
All moving in patient, rhythmic waves.
Our Mother Earth breathes.
Now zoom out even further.
See the galaxy swirling.
Stars being born, collapsing, breathing in their own long rhythms.
Feel yourself stitched into that cosmic breath.
You are not separate.
You are not above or below.
You are a harmony in a much larger song.
A uni- verse.
One Song.
Now gently return.
Feel your body again.
Feet grounded, held, supported by Mother Earth.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Feel the invitation:
To listen.
To harmonize.
To resonate with life.
When you're ready, slowly return to this room.
To this moment.
Wiggle your fingers or toes.
Offer yourself a small smile.
You are breathing with stars.
With soil.
With tides.
With trees.
We are breathing with each other.
Let yourself feel all that that means and could mean.
If gratitude stirs, welcome it.
If love comes, hold it..
If joy arises, revel in it.
If awe emerges, embrace it.
Life breathes.
And you are part of life.
Share this post