“So take the lively air”

15. June 2018
Breath in Literature & Art
by Nicola Caroli

“So take the lively air” is a line from the poem “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), one of my favourite poets. In his life and work he searched for a truth that was rooted in the mysteries of the relationship with the natural world, the realm of God and the unconscious, inner self. Roethke himself described this search as „a hunt, a drive toward God; an effort to break through the barrier of rational experience.“ It comes as no surprise then that breathing features in many of his poems.

The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go. Read More

Breath Token May 2018

16. May 2018
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

It is how it is

Last Tuesday I went to the monthly breath class of my teacher Erika Kemmann. After arriving in our sitting position – sensing the soles of the feet on the ground and the sit bones on the chair, Erika invited us to meditate on „how it is“.  „It is how it is“, she said. Whatever comes up „It is how it is. I am who I am“. So we sat there in silence repeating „It is how it is. I am who I am“, devoting our time and attention to accepting ourselves physically, emotionally and mentally at that moment. Read More

“Beneath that loved and celebrated breast”

14. May 2018
Breath in Literature & Art
by Nicola Caroli

I’d like to share a poem that not only features breathing but is entirely about breathing. It’s by the great American poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979).

IV/O Breath
Beneath that loved   and celebrated breast,
silent, bored  really blindly veined,
grieves, maybe  lives and lets
live, passes  bets,
something moving   but invisibly,
and with what clamor  why restrained
I cannot fathom  even a ripple.
(See the thin flying  of nine black hairs
four around one  five the other nipple,
flying almost intolerably  on your own breath.)
Equivocal, but what we have in common’s   bound to be there,
whatever we must own    equivalents for,
something that maybe I   could bargain with
and make a separate peace  beneath
within  if never with.

Source: Elizabeth Bishop, from “Four Poems”, Complete Poems, Chatto & Windus 1991

from Elizabeth Bishop

How birds-to-be get oxygen inside eggs

14. May 2018
Breathing Science
by Nicola Caroli

“How birds-to-be get oxygen inside eggs.” is the latest animation from the science enthusiast Adam Cole aka npr’s Skunk Bear.
Unlike a human fetus, a chicken fetus isn’t connected to its mother’s umbilical cord. It grows sealed inside the egg. So how does it get the oxygen necessary for survival and growth? In Skunk Bear’s beautiful animation we learn about the oxygen supply of a chicken fetus in parallel to our own, up to the moment when we all take our first breath.

 

 

Breath Token April 2018

15. April 2018
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

Rotating the shoulders

While sitting or standing, let‘s bring our attention to one shoulder by touching, stroking and holding it while we allow the breath to flow. In our own time, we let go of the shoulder and feel the effect of the exploration.

Now we rotate the shoulder backward very slowly from the round bony structure where the clavicle meets the head of the humerus (the main bone of the arm). This might feel quite unusual, at least, it did to me. Let’s take care not to push the shoulder blades together or initiate the movement with the arm, which usually happens with rotating the shoulders. It‘s really a very fine and slow movement. The slowness of the movement helps the breath to flow freely because it’s more difficult to control it. Read More

“Breathe, breathe in the air”

15. April 2018
Breath Diary
by Nicola Caroli

I recently re-discovered the song Breathe by Pink Floyd on the album The Dark Side of the Moon. As a teenager, I practically knew the record by heart. That is, I knew the lyrics but didn’t think about what they might mean. On the website song meanings, I found an interesting range of comments on the possible interpretations…

Today, being interested in breathing, the line that strikes me is “Don’t be afraid to care”. When I’m afraid, I can immediately notice it in my breathing and my breathing, in turn, reacts to me being afraid. And thinking about the moments when I’m afraid, more often than not, it is about caring. Read More

Breath Token March 2018

15. March 2018
Breathwork
by Nicola Caroli

A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.

Resting the eyes

I often get very tired eyes. So sometimes, when I sit on the train, I close my eyes and imagine the eyeballs sinking into their sockets. Often the eyes tense up again quite quickly and then I consciously let them settle again. When I do this, I also let the eyelids relax completely. Then I try to lift them as if they were very heavy before I relax them again. Read More