01/02/2026
At midnight last night, we all embarked on a brand new journey that initiated the 7.5 to 10 million breaths that, God-willing, we will take in 2026.
Our breath roots us, fuels us, frees us from the burden of the conscious discipline that would be necessary in order to sustain this life; abiding awareness that one could never abandon, else this life would be over.
To deconstruct the power of our breath is to develop a clear understanding that the Yin Yang philosophy lives within each of us; the idea that we have contradictory, yet complementary forces working to provide balance within us is to acknowledge this delicate balance between our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
In the moments we take a strong, intentional, cleansing breath, our parasympathetic nervous system is activated. The Yin that lives within us eases the Yang of our innate fight or flight response, the byproducts of our sympathetic nervous system. Our heart rate lessons, increased oxygenation is ignited, and cortisol, our stress hormone, lessens.
This interplay of complementary forces helps to build a complex structure of the roots that anchor our breath. Even when you think about what the inside of a lung looks like with its bronchioles, reaching in all directions, it mirrors that of roots of the tree of life. Each path capable of a restorative response if we choose to seek it.
May 2026 award you with the opportunity to take many deep, nourishing, cleansing breaths. Our breath is the medicine we have with us at all times. It holds the hope of calmness and perseverance. It works.
Forage ahead in the New Year knowing that you are worthy of every single breath, you take. Each breath is a new beginning.
~KS~1/1/26
