Dear Friends,
Over the past several days, we have explored the air element as breath, motion, and continual change. Yesterday, we paused to cultivate equanimity – learning how to meet change with steadiness and care. Today, we return to the air element to explore what it can show us about not-self in a very practical way.
With air, this becomes especially tangible.
Each breath is an exchange. Air enters the body, supports life for a moment, and then leaves again. What we inhale does not originate with us, and what we exhale does not remain with us. Breath by breath, the air element is moving through – never staying, never belonging.
The air you breathe has traveled widely. Oxygen produced by plants across the planet – on land and in the oceans – has moved through countless living beings before arriving here. The air leaving your body will disperse again, circulating through the atmosphere, becoming part of weather, wind, and breath elsewhere.
Seen this way, breathing is not a private activity. It is part of a vast, shared process.
This can gently shift how we understand “my breath.” What we usually think of as inside and outside begins to blur. Air moves freely across those boundaries, reminding us that the body is not sealed off from the world, but in constant exchange with it.
The same is true moment to moment in daily life. As we move through shared spaces – indoors or outdoors – we are breathing air that others have just breathed out, and they are breathing air that has passed through us. Plants and animals are part of this same cycle, continually exchanging gases that sustain life.
Noticing the air element in this way invites a closer look at what is already happening. Breathing reveals itself as a process we participate in, rather than something we possess.
Today, I invite you to notice the air element as something shared – flowing through bodies, environments, and time. You might see how this softens the sense of separation, or how it loosens the feeling that experience is happening in isolation.
As always, I love to hear what you notice. You can reply to the email or post a comment to share a brief reflection.
With good wishes,
Andrea