Breathe the biosphere: a meditation

This meditation is written to promote integration, not just within the body, but between the body and the entire range of life on earth. It’s a powerful antidote to the sense of anxiety, separation and isolation that we often feel in the modern world. (Also good for insomnia.) Excellent for yoga classes.

The process is easy. If you’re alone, just read the list slowly and sink into each image. (After a few sessions, you’ll have the idea and you can simply go by memory.)

If you’re leading a group, have your people sit comfortably and read the prompts to them in a soft voice. Take it slow and improvise as desired. Give people the chance to feel and connect through their imagination.

begin by focusing your attention on your breath…

next, expand your attention to include your entire body in the act of breathing. every cell in your body is participating in every breath.

feel all of this…

if you get distracted, don’t worry. just return to your breath and trust your body. it knows what to do…

now widen your attention to include the breath of the people who are near you.

breathe with them...

next, extend your attention to people who are further away, in the distant reaches of your city, your state and your country. breathe with them...

now broaden your attention further to include the breath of all people, all human beings on the planet...

you are part of this…

next, broaden your attention to include the breath of all the animals of the earth.

the dogs and cats in your home and your neighborhood…

the coyotes and wolves in your bioregion…

the mice and marmots, the beavers and otters that swim in the lakes and rivers…

the deer and elk and antelope grazing in the mountains...

the lions and leopards and cougars resting in the shade…

the primates, the chimps, the bonobos, the gorillas and the monkeys, all breathing…

you are a part of this…

next, broaden your attention to include the breath of all the marine mammals of the earth...

the orcas and the humpbacks, diving deep and coming up again…

the porpoises, the dolphins, the seals and sea lions…

you are a part of this as well…

next, broaden your attention to include all the plants of the earth and their waves of respiration...

feel the breath of the great rainforests, the vast canopies, the ferns and vines and understory…

feel the grasses around the world, springing forth at every opportunity, reaching out for light and moisture…

feel the soil itself, growing deeper and richer in waves…

even the plankton in the oceans must surely have its breath…

and you are a part of this as well...

now broaden your attention to include the water of the planet and its breath-like movement…

the evaporation from vast oceans…

the condensation into swirling, pulsing clouds…

the rain and snowfall across the earth...

now broaden your attention to the breath-like changes of the seasons in northern and southern hemisphere….