breathe dot calm
With the uncertainties, anxieties, stresses, and breathless pace of high technologies, low economies, chaotic wars and other forms of terrorism and violence, corporate domination, and catastrophic environmental destruction — not to mention rabid right-wing politicians and their ignorance, arrogance, and bigotry — we need to do something. We need to breathe. That's not all we need to do, but we definitely need to do it. Of course, we already breathe, all the time, ever since we were born, so it should be automatic and really easy for us. Yet, intentional breathing is as vital as it is rare. And for too many of us, it's not easy at all.
When we slow down and choose to breathe — while doing yoga, meditating, walking, chanting, knitting, daydreaming, or otherwise — we become more efficient, not less, as well as more healthy and more happy. Breathing is better for our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Breathing allows us to access and augment our best selves, to animate with our lives, so that we can best help others as well as ourselves. As the modern meditation mantra goes, "Don't just do something, sit there."
The essence and etymology of compassion is to share passion, to empathize and share the suffering with others, so as to alleviate their pain and lessen their burden. While each of us feeling compassionate and breathing alone may help, it often takes a conspiracy to really get things accomplished. To conspire is, literally, to breathe together. A compassion conspiracy, therefore, is simply many people intentionally breathing together, so that we can passionately change the world together.
To be able to breathe together, and to breathe clean, healthy air, while putting our compassion into action, we may also need some LOVE: Local, Organic, Veg Eating. LOVE is a major way to keep our air and water clean for all living beings. Something we can choose to practice every day, LOVE significantly reduces air and water pollution, protects forests and endangered species, conserves precious resources and habitats, and fights global warming much more effectively than energy-efficient light bulbs, reusable bags, shorter showers, or even hybrid cars (though none of these are mutually exclusive, of course). LOVE also vastly improves our personal health, our community health, and tremendously reduces the unnecessary and horrifying suffering and death of billions of animals.
Meditate on the fact that LOVE is the best antidote to HATE — Hurting Animals Through Eating. It's neither fun nor healthy to eat SAD — the Standard American Diet. Open your heart to distance yourself from heart dis-ease and to ease your own breathing as well as the breathing of other living beings. Let your spirit and compassion flow in with LOVE and be happy!
If you're not ready to totally fall in LOVE yet, take it slowly: sit, breathe, even flirt with the idea, and have fun with it. The secret is out: just breathe dot calm for a better you and a better world.
Dan Brook, Ph.D. is a writer, speaker, poet, photographer, activist, and professor of social science. Learn more about him at https://about.me/danbrook
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