Breathe.

Breathe.
 

Long.

Deep.

Don’t do anything else.

Just Breathe.

Ten or more times.

Of the last two or so weeks traveling, I think yesterday was the first time I consciously did this.  Emily and I had just finished a bouldering session at the wagon wheel boulders outside Ridgecrest, CA and left in a hurry to try to get a twilight glimpse of the Trona Pinnacles before it was totally dark.  We drove about 20 miles (5 of them on washboard dirt roads) to arrive at a spooky garden of strange protruding rocks reaching high into the starry sky.   I got out, stumbled around, went over to one of these “pinnacles” and felt the hard sharp stone.  Cool.  The pinnacles.  Check that off.  I mashed a cliff bar into my mouth as I started back to the truck.  I was about to get in and drive away when I stopped. 

           

I took a deep breath. 

Then I took another.

Up until that moment I had been too consumed with the goings on of life’s logistics and immediate needs and wants to be conscious of my breathing.  I darted from one thing to the next not stopping to enjoy or even acknowledge the fact that I was indeed breathing and could perhaps do so a bit more intentionally. 

This continues to be a theme for me originating a long time prior to the start of my travels.  I imagine this is so for many people as well.  I am so caught up in all of the constant stimulus, to-do’s, and running around that the times I do get a break (or choose to take one) I have other things to do to fill that time as well.  It can be difficult to initiate, very difficult to follow through with, but taking a break to concentrate on breathing can be refreshing and absolutely worthwhile to do. 

I challenge you.

Stop reading, close your eyes and breathe. 

Breathing is an absolute essential at any given point.  The first thing emergency responders check for, even before a pulse, is an open airway and the presence of breathing.  Unlike other vital body functions such as our hearts beating, or digestion, our breathing is both voluntary and involuntary, conscious and subconscious. 

I find that in most cases of my daily busyness, my breathing is a subconscious function.  My heart beats, my eyes blink, and I breathe.  As I get really focused or busy, maybe stressed.  I breathe short shallow breaths.  I may complete my task in a hurried way, not nearly as intentionally as I could have.  I hurry, shooting from thought to thought, thing to thing, often sloppy or forgetful.

To stop and breathe is to regain focus. 

It is to put the small series of fast moving pictures into context within the larger one.

To stop and breathe is to regain intention and deliberateness.

As an example, Em and I were climbing a few days ago.  I had led up a route that looked to be difficult but doable.  The protection points were spaced far apart enough that the potential falls would likely be significant, up to 20 or so feet.  As I climbed to and clipped the first bolt (protection point) the route required a lot of strength and precision.  It continued to be demanding as I got to the second bolt and this time a bit more laboriously clipped. 

Past the second bolt the holds seemed to get tougher to reach and tougher to stick to.  As I got to where the second bolt was about under my feet by about a yard, I felt weak and panicked.  “WATCH ME!”  I yelled to Emily on belay.  I looked around frantically for anything better to hold on to.  My breathing and heart raced.  I groped the pockets with half strong fingers and finally I yelled, “FALLING!”  and felt the rock slip away.  I fell about 15 feet to meet my wife, who had been pulled up the wall to stop me. 

I rested for a bit, studied the route, made a new attack plan, and chalked up.  Soon I was climbing again.  I made the third bolt this time.  I clipped, hung to rest and planed the next push.  The fourth bolt was significantly further apart than the first three or so it seemed.  As I got above the third bolt the cycle began again.  Fear, tired hands, panic, adrenaline, and “FALLING!” this time it would be 20ft down. 

On my next attempt I remember getting to the point of my previous downward flight, adrenaline again pumping, heart pounding and thinking “Calm down.  Breathe.”

This was the way to the top.  I was able to focus on the tiny foothold sequence I had missed the first time.  I focused on finding a good stance to clip from rather than on how bad the current one was.  I gained the top anchor by remembering that along with all the hard to hold pockets and intentional, directional footwork, breathing is a mandatory and vital piece of the climb. 

To stop and breathe is to regain focus. 

It is to put the small series of fast moving pictures into context within the larger one.

To stop and breathe is to regain intention and deliberateness.

Breathing is essential to every task large and small.  We have the choice of how consciously we incorporate it.  Breathing can be an unnoticed byproduct of our activity or it can be the complete focus of our attention. It is a free, simple and beautiful pleasure.

Stop.

Breathe. 

Long.

Deep.

Don’t do anything else.

Just Breathe.

Ten or more times.

-K

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