When you read the word respiratory, does it lead you to thinking about your spirit? Unfortunately not for most people because the way we pronounce it doesn't clearly show us its root. However, I discovered one day that there was a message in this word and its etymology. There was something that perhaps had been left there by the progenitors of our language. For a moment and perhaps for the rest of your life, how would you like to think of your breathing system as your Re-spirit-ory system?! The literal reset button for your spirit!
So often we have heard the facets of our being referred to as body, mind and spirit. But most people only have a grasp of what it means to work on and balance the body and the mind. Ask ten people how they work on their spirit and you may get ten different answers. The moment that you understand and realize your breathing system to be the spirit system in the body is the Divine moment of reclaiming it and having a known place where your spirit resides. Have you ever thought about checking in on the spirit aspect of your being by checking in on the state and quality of your breathing? I welcome you back to a simple piece of knowledge that can take you quite far. Let it feel good! I'll never forget the day I reclaimed this for myself. It is inspiring to say the least, to know this as a distinct and defined part of ourselves and how we were created.
Think about that difficult moment, where down to your core you didn't feel good, but someone came along and invited you to detach from the mind's antics and just breathe deeply and slowly. What happened in that moment was that you trusted someone who cared about you to usher you back into connecting with your re-spirit-ory system. It wasn't simply that you used it, but part of why it worked for you is the fact that breathing has first-class access in the body. It traverses all layers of our being and affects the body, the mind and so many of the body's functions.
As one of my favorite mystics, Osho put it: "Constantly, breath is bridging you to your body, connecting you, relating you to your body. Not only is the breath a bridge to your body, it is also a bridge between you and the universe....breath is also the bridge between you, space and time. Breath, therefore, becomes very significant, the most significant thing." The next time you turn your attention to your breathing and from then on, let the great reset button of your spirit become one of the most potent and loved Superhero tools in your Superhero satchel.