Breathing

I believe in multi-tasking.  I’m a parent; it’s a survival thing.  That said, there are limits to its usefulness.

Lately I have been focusing on yoga and swimming as my exercises of choice.  “Choice” in this context, as Lemony Snicket would say, means “It has been pointed out to me that continuing to bike and lift weights with my current physical situation is harmful, so it would be a good idea to do something else.”  Not that I don’t like yoga and swimming.  I love both.  I am also not particularly good at either one.

What happens, as a result, is that I have to focus.  There is no music in swimming, just the rhythm of breathing and splashing.  My brain quiets, eventually, when all there is to do is count the lengths of the pool.  In yoga, the whole point is to connect the mind to the body, to use each to enrich the other.

It’s simple, but it’s profound.  Where else can we find that deep and basic space?