Breathing the Boob

It started as a favor to a brunch friend. She wanted me to come with her to try a friend’s yoga class. Sonia was just starting to teach at a new place in town and she wondered if I would go with her. As a favor – because “I don’t do yoga” (as I always said), I went. It turns out that it was the quietest moments I had in over seven years. And my soul needed it again. The moving meditation with Breath Centered Viniyoga, located in a beautiful sanctuary home just down the street from my house, was permanently set for a recurring event on my calendar for Thursday mornings. It was a place that offered wellness programs, mini retreats to “rejuvenate body, soul and spirit.” And it turned out that it was a safe place I could share everything about this journey that I find myself on.

There were several weeks I had to skip class due to school breaks, various kid illnesses and those previously mentioned brunch dates. The day I came back, I didn’t hesitate to share what was going on with my soul sisters, as I think of them now. There was so much support and respect. They were already supporting my healing, when nothing had physically happened to my body yet. It is so hard to explain the true lift my spirit gets just by being in the presence of open people.

Our instructor Sonia often gently speaks to us about breathing through pain or discomfort. By focusing on our breath, we can become more connected to (or less separate from) our surroundings. This has helped me immensely in my daily life (I yell less at my kids), but also has helped me through biopsy pain and thinking positively to get the DCIS out of my breast! I have been breathing the boob. Meditation and movement have helped me be more in the moment. Not just cherishing the time I have with my kids and friends and family but being there. Breathing the moment and all it has to offer.

This is the view when we do yoga. Breathtaking.

It sounds woo-ey. And if you met me for the first time (or have known me forever), you would know its not entirely who I am. But it’s certainly a growing part of me, especially now after this health journey. I need to be in the moment, for other people, and for myself. And breathing – noticing breathing and being more one with my surroundings – helps that. And in the coming weeks, I am going to need to breathe a lot.