The breathe is our most intimate partner

"The breathe is always here for you."
"The breathe is the only constant thing in your life."
"The breathe is the most intimate relationship you can have with yourself."

If you've been in a yoga class how often have you heard a teacher say these sentences?  I was in a yoga class this morning and the teacher was also talking about the breathe being our most trusted friend.  It was the first time I stopped to think and ask myself what the hell does that mean?  The breathe is the most intimate relationship I can have?  I have said these words myself to my friends, family, and when teaching.  Follow the breathe, the breathe will inform you, but no one goes on to describe why we are paying attention and why it is so important.

Being someone who has experienced panic attacks in my young lifetime thus far, I am aware of how crucial the breathe is and how it connects us to all the known and unknown information that is being processed within our minds and therefore our bodies.  One negative thought that I may not pay attention to and all of a sudden my breathing becomes short and shallow for hours until I finally am forced to pay attention to why I am locking my jaw.  Our breathe tells us when we are not treating ourselves with kindness and compassion. 

Think about it for a second, when you are stressed where is your breathe?  Is it high in your chest or low in your belly?  When you are relaxed, is the inhale and exhale of your breathe even?  Every time an emotion arises in our bodies in response to a thought in our mind, our breathe will tell us how we are reacting if we don't deal with the emotion right then and there.  The more we try and ignore a problem the more our breathe will tell us we need to pay attention.  The less we are breathing, the more tension we feel.  The lesson here: make friends with your breathe, let it inform you, let it guide you.  It really is the most intimate relationship we can foster....with ourselves.