A little over 11 years ago I was in what many would consider a horrific accident. Hit by a Semi Truck, run off the road, flown from the car and I don't remember a single piece of it. I don't have any recollection from that day, except for what has been told to me by others.
I remember waking up on January 2/3, not sure what day because the calendar just said January 2/3. Broken Jaws, lazy eye, broken collar bone, broken ribs, punctured lungs, and a broken pelvis in 5 places later - there I was with my family sitting over me with tears in their eyes and endless thoughts running through their minds and I still knew nothing.
I'm not writing about my accident to have anyone feel sorry for me or to ask why would something like this happen to me. Yes, I struggle with the not knowing of what the hell truly happened that day in December of 2003, but that's not why I care to share this information with all of you.
Years later I am living this life in Hawaii with a man I never knew I would find and a beautiful little boy who just takes my breath away on the daily. This is how I know I am alive because I am breathing and I can feel the moments when my breath is taken away from me. I can feel the rise and the fall of my belly with every single breath I take. Whether I am running, practicing yoga, or simply being. I am breathing.
The breath is something I am so incredibly Grateful for. I remember being in the hospital with tubes in my lungs and feeling like it was so difficult to take a sip of breath. I felt like I had to work extremely hard to get just enough to feel like I was even breathing at all. I didn't realize how important breathing was until I was told I would never have full potential of my lungs again. For a while I believed those doctors that I never would breathe fully again; each time I puffed into the modern incentive spirometer / blow bottle, I felt like it took everything I had to get the ball to rise. Well I made it my game to get better and get breathing. Eventually, I was dismissed from the hospital and taken to an inpatient therapy clinic close to my parents home in Sarasota. This is the moment I realized that breathing is Everything. A new doctor told me he found fluid in my lungs and wanted to do some procedure with some needle (at that time I was scared poop less of this needle he described and the procedure he proclaimed would help my lungs) that would help give me the full use of my lungs and to breathe to my full capacity. I did not want him to do it. Lots of tears were shed and fear fulfilled me like no other.
The next day the fluid was no longer found in my lungs. I knew within that moment I should be thankful to be alive and given another chance to live and never complain again. (I'm human and have made many more mistakes since that day, let me reassure you, many many mistakes!!!!)
Breathing is more than taking in breath and letting out breath. It is a feeling, a fulfillment, an accomplishment, and an opportunity to practice yoga, to run, to live, to play................ When I began practicing yoga in 2006, I realized there was and now is so much more than the postures and the physical aspects. There was and is the (HA) The Breath of Life. More than ever, I have come to appreciate the opportunity to breathe. To inhale and exhale. The breath provides guidance into each posture or my every foot step, my every action in life.
The breath calms me when I am not calm and it eases my anxious mind.
Breathing has taught me so much more than I could have ever imagined it to teach me. It's taken me years of practice - to in cooperate breathing techniques into my daily life, but in some large way I believe the fluid in my lungs magically disappeared because my body knew that it was going to be given the chance to breathe, learn to breathe in the years to come. I had to be patient and listen. Through my practice I have learned to breathe fully and I do believe I am using the full capacity of my lungs. I am breathing into the depths of who I am and all I am. Maybe my ribcage is big (or I think it is) because it needed to make room for the new space I would be creating through my breath. These lungs of mine LOVE to breathe...
Pranayama, the formal practice of controlling the breath, which is the source of our prana, or vital life force............. Some yoga gurus rank pranayama over asana as the most important part of the practice. If you’re new to it, you may be wondering what exactly it is and how to get started. If you are indeed interested in Reading up on yoga breathing techniques and sequences to practice pranayama click the link here: Yoga Journal - Pranayama for Beginners
Each of us has the ability to breathe. I assure you, if you spend a little quality time focusing and concentrating on your breath daily, you too will agree with not only me, but these other yoga gurus that feel breathing/pranayama is most important.
Breathing techniques are not just valuable to yogis. I have incorporated a different approach into my running and noticed an incredible difference. (For example: I rarely get that tightness in my chest (that many runners often speak of) while running because I'm breathing deeper into my body using my diaphragm rather than my chest).
I'll elaborate more on how yoga plays an important role in my Marathon running later and maybe fill you in on the details of my accident and what that day means to me. Check my blog for the story...
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