I‘m currently on the island Rügen by the Baltic Sea Coast with a yoga and fasting group and today there‘s quite a storm. We walked to the beach this morning to do our daily exercises but had to leave because we got covered in sand. The wind was so strong that it was difficult to walk straight. I felt the air pushing into my side like a body, swaying to the left of the path. It intrigued me thinking about air as a body.
Later, when I was lying down on the floor looking out at the swaying pine trees and hearing the wind roaring through the open windows of the yoga room, I imagined the air being drawn into the nostrils as something more substantial than gas, more like a liquid. It was a strange sensation, like becoming inhabited with the inhale and with the exhale being vacated, and then during the breath pause, the house being empty, so to speak.
Imagining the air as a body really slowed down my breathing. It felt more visceral, like ingesting air and, sensing the air moving gradually out of the body, like watching a figure walk away. And then there was nothingness inside during the breath pause which made me feel lonely for a few seconds.
I think being in such fresh air, even in the yoga room through the open window, heightened this breath exploration for me. It’s certainly something I’d like to revisit as a meditative and nourishing experience.