Between Breaths

The past couple weeks have been a little overwhelming...merely in terms of life's transitions...I only recently have given up the corporate world forever, to pursue the bliss that fills me when I teach dance and yoga. Or hence, the time that allows me to be a good friend, counselor, listener, and dancer. Time...

Time has been an inconsistent feeling within me lately. Between spending time with a lover, friends, and being alone...it all feels differently. And then there is the time when we do nothing. When we feel as if we are stalling, or in purgatory, perhaps even feeling like life is at a plateau.

In yoga, there is a common saying, that is mentioned by many instructors...they say, "Find that space between each breath." That space right after the inhale and before the exhale...so continuous that it just becomes a space. What happens there in that space?

What happens to us? When we feel that we are in a space that is between a breath. The space where there is no breath. Lately, that is how I am feeling. And, it is quite actually nerve racking and a little scary. I feel like that I am not sure what to do. I am not inhaling, I am not exhaling...I am in between the breath. But, the moment passes to the next and I find myself in that empty space again. We find lots of empty spaces in life.

Moments when we are alone. Moments when we are waiting for an opportunity to solidify. Moments spent where we just feel like we are in between things and not much is happening for us. They happen when we are in a job search or moving to a new location. The times when we are waiting to hear back from an employer or when everything is packed and we are just waiting for the big day for the moving trucks to arrive. Several of these empty spaces can be forced upon us when we fall ill, or catch a cold, flu. We are then urged to do nothing. To rest. And that is actually in the end, what I have surrendered myself to in these empty spaces I am finding. Rest.

Rest, not as an escape. Rest not as being lazy or disregarding activity. But, when all else is just as it is...and we find ourselves between the breaths of life. What is there to do? But, instead of waiting, actively rest...find that moment to recollect yourself, to bring yourself together and to know that empty spaces soon get filled. Empty spaces are not always empty...and we find old spaces filled and new ones emptied.

So, for everyone who is in between something right now. I share my empty space with you...And I know all too well, that we all will be filled quite soon.