The breath breathes us

as we breathe

the breath moves us

regardless

I have to think ahead

I have to keep listening

patience

time

space

I need to stop

It’s ok not to read everything

I have to let go of the burden that isn’t mine alone to carry

I feel responsible to so many people, ones I know and don’t

Let the words go pass by

And be part of it

i have to breathe

To let go

I have to let the tensions out

child parents partners friends students animals

Pick one take them in

to always be prepared

but to let go

to surrender to what is

The tension pilling up from so many responsibilities I feel I have

it has taken me a long time to realise I need to be responsible for me

But also be awake to what can be changed

i need to engage with reality

to what is in my power to change

and let glittering sparkles fill my body

while also being with what it is possible to be otherwise

find my voice

know my needs

feel like they matter

i need to have the courage to live in right relation to myself and it all

Focus one thing at a time

i need to feel ground

water

need to remember to breathe and be in flow

Let the tomatoes to lean on something stable

need to not assume responsibility for others’ responsibilities

Breath is a regulating movement. It can soothe, slow, calm and also nudge the blocks within us. It can slowly shift..

sometimes feel i can’t get enough air in my heartspace even though i know i can. reminding myselkf of this creates more spce.

i feel overwhelm mainly here in this space

Anxieties, insecurities arise

sometimes it feels dangerous to breathe, in the tube, in shops, too many people, not sure how safe other people are

Facing up to things, being brave

using the breath to soften this area

what do i wish was different? i wish there was more time where it felt less necessary to work hard t breathing through tightness

warmth in there

wanting to feel safe again, where everyone would be careful and conscious of each other’s needs

i wish people in my life right now weren’t finding it literally hard to breathe for different reasons

I wish I had more self-belief

seeng so much injustice makes my chest hurt

not sure noticing how my breathing breathes me is comforting. still some deep delusion of desiring while not desiring control?

wishing for more wisdom

why do hearts actually feel like they are breaking when we love and lose hard.

breathing takes invisible space of time. Regulating, enduring, and resisting time.

i wish everyone could feel this softening inside

What would the world be like

when i hold my breath at the top, my heart keeps going. breathing in its own way. there is more than one rhythm/.life force holding us here

yes heard you drinking lol

Your core home is also your sense of home. Your breath shines a light on what is home to you

The home space that brings all your past, present and future

Breathe creates a safe space inside

a safe space that radiates

i love this – ‘your breath shines a light on what is home to you’. home space. that brings so many feelings and thoughts because home is hard being fragmented multiple. home within, home as part of the earth and wider energy field feels calmer

i can use my breath to strengthen my sense of home: a reminder

listening to breathing felt – patient, wait, flow, be still in currents

Light and gentle – allowing the home to breathe

grounding feels here, space and strength for holding contradictions feel here

A place of nourishment

my home, my space – a place for healing, a place of safety

Keeping our home safe

with breath

where home is so contested in global politics

who is allowed to belong

who is allowed in

aware suddenly of how many people around me probably don’t have access to these feelings/experiences and sensing the difference it could make to being if they did

for so many they are not safe to speak, to feel, to be

keeping this space strong as well as soft and yielding

Flexible, open to change

being here a sacred possibility of being at all when don’t fully belong anywhere

where living and breathing feels frightening

Protecting others who cant protect themselves  by extending my breath

and where our planet, our home cannot breathe

also love this:: ‘by extending my breath’ outwards to others. this exercise is individual in some ways and collective/collectivising in others. would like to think more about this aspect.

how can we make the environment safe  again, where ecologies can be nourished, where there can be life again in places we have destroyed

noticing where in our environments it is easier, harder, impossible to breathe. for whom. when. making clearer maybe where we need more air and more space in our bodies, single and collective

beautiful

sensing into breathing and noticing breathing as a political act and one of love

defending, protecting, enlarging, honouring the possibility of breathing for each and all as a primary social and political and spiritual responsibility, practice. putting our other responsibilities and practices in this bigger/deeper more basic picture

This collective piece of writing has been created as part of the Returning to Home Workshop: let me give you some breathing space facilitated by Annie Jael Kwan on Sunday 28th June 2020.

The Returning to Home workshop series is curated by Annie Jael Kwan as part of performingbordersLIVE20 programme. Supported by the Arts Council England.

Image credits: Annie Jael Kwan