Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Facelift, and an etymological pondering

After six months of borrowing WiFi from libraries, coffee shops, and hotel parking lots, I have rejoined the 21st century and gotten internet at home. I enjoyed the break but it's good to be back!

I spent most of the day changing things up around the ol' blog. Still some tweaking to do, but whadya think?

Yesterday morning I was thinking about what it means to me to be spiritual. The word "spirit" shares a root with "inspire," one meaning of which is to draw in breath, to breathe. Breathing is what sustains life. One can go quite a while without food, water or sunlight, but if breathing stops, life stops soon afterward. Consciously minding and regulating the breath is at the heart of the practice of yoga, and the starting point for learning meditation. The attention to the breath that I had to learn to study singing has been an essential part of my journey.

In a way, my striving to be spiritual is an endeavor to breathe, to infuse my life with more life, to draw in that which will sustain me and the release that which would deplete me.

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If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll check out my new blog.

10 comments:

  1. "L" like the look. so awesome.

    Kriss

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  2. Yay! So good to have you back, Leah, and I love the new look.

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  3. Thanks, Donna! Good to be back!

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  4. Breath is a key to looking at mind. Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist mystics use it.

    Hey Leah, I found a good free 16-wk on-line meditation course if you are interested:
    www.aromeditation.org

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  5. glad to have you back, leah!

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  6. Sabio, thanks for the link!

    Thanks, Renee!

    Thanks, Lisa!

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