You Are the Unicorn You’ve Been Looking For
“Instead of merely breathing to live, what if we lived like we breathe?”
If you can’t live right now, you never will.
In meditation, perhaps the most fundamental essential is to simply be.
“Be here now”— It’s divine advice that we’ve heard and understood, yet it barely gets through.
And no wonder; it’s not your fault. No one taught you to breathe.
Breath is instinct.
Put another way, it’s part of the autonomic nervous system and thus functions with or without your awareness. But this invisibly obvious function has long been recognized as a numinous guide.
For instance, in the language of Eden, the ancient Hebrew word ruach means spirit. Ruach also means breath. Similarly, the Greek word pneuma means wind, spirit and breath. Your breath is your spirit, and your spirit is your breath.
As you inhale, you receive.
Only a moment later, in exhalation, you let go.
Now, you may not appreciate this incessant dependence upon a repetitive paradox of embrace and release, but try to hold on, attempt to impose your will, and nature will quickly humble you out of your delusion. In other words, it forces you to be present. Engaged, but not attached.
Breath reminds you of what you are (inhale), and what you are not (exhale).
Breathing is a tool. It’s a powerful avenue by which we can access ourselves. Research shows that when we inhale through the nose, our ability to accurately read emotion on someone’s face improves measuredly. Breathing also alters mood, releasing hormones which create happiness, and eliminate the fear in our body. Breath alters our very state, and can change the expression of our DNA.
Scientifically, meditative breath-work is compelling, even amazing. Modern, Western science is being re-written and we can be part of the revolution.
Spiritually and philosophically though, it’s deeper still.
So many of us aren’t here because we need to be somewhere else in order to feel ok.
If you’re not ok, the religious will tell you heaven’s on the other side, so it’s ok.
If you’re not ok, the rich will tell you success is around the corner, so it’s ok.
If you’re not ok, the educated will tell you insight awaits, so it’s ok.
Everything won’t be “ok”,
but maybe you can.
Evidently, a fundamental discontent does exist within us. Perhaps it’s a spiritual void only God can fill. Or maybe it’s neuro-chemical, biological hardwiring evolved to motivate a constant search for the preservation of our wellbeing and that of our species — Maybe its both, or neither.
Regardless, out of this angst we look for a unicorn that will fix us. We spy on the future, and eavesdrop on our past. We’re gamblers betting on tomorrow, motivated by the day we finally capture our unicorn and ride into bliss. But time after time, accomplishment after accomplishment, relationships, highs, rewards, performance, things — We realize the unicorn was a horse with a pointy hat. It was a story only real for as long as we didn’t have it.
But perhaps we weren't constructed to have anything, anymore than we have an inhale. Instead of merely breathing to live, what if we lived like we breathe? What if breathing is a symbol meant to shed light upon our situation, and how to live properly within it — So as we learn to breathe, we learn to live?
“Breath [is] part of the autonomic nervous system and thus functions with or without your awareness […]”
Yet, “Without awareness, there is no choice.”
You will breathe whether you want to or not. Similarly, you can’t stop thinking, it always resumes. Our choice then, is not between breathing, thinking, living — Or not. Rather, it’s a decision between doing these things unconsciously, poorly. Or, doing them from a place of awareness and therefore doing them well.
As you inhale fully, receive everything this moment is offering:
Nonresistant to the shadows we can’t change.
Only a moment later, exhale. Let go:
Release the white-knuckled control suffocating your heart.
The planets of past and future don’t possess the oxygen rich atmosphere your soul craves. Yet, when suspended by the polarity of your conscious breath, you have the opportunity to be found in the present moment.
Able to see, perhaps, that you are the unicorn you’ve been looking for.
