Bob Schwartz

Follow the breath.

Many meditation practices begin with breathing. Sometimes you count your breaths—inhales, exhales or both. Sometimes you advance to following your breaths without counting, harder to describe than counting, better understood when practiced.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is known in the Hebrew Bible as Kohelet. The most famous line from Ecclesiastes reads in ancient Hebrew: Hevel hevelim, hevel hevelim, kol hevel. In the King James version, this is forever known as “vanity, vanity, all is vanity”. Modern translators, however, struggle with the translation, and some translate kol hevel as “all is breath”.

All is breath. Wisdom, experience and science say that slowing the breath is a key to calming. Trouble breathing is a sign and cause of physical distress. Not breathing is the end of life. All is breath.

Along with mindfulness, I suggest the parallel concept of breathfulness. It is surprising, or maybe not, how little attention we pay to breaths unless there is a particular observation, direction or difficulty. Even those who make breathing a part of practice, when we get up from meditation, may forget about breathing. Which we shouldn’t. Because all is breath.

© 2023 by Bob Schwartz