Just Breathe

Our breath is connected to our life. This is a simple and obvious statement and yet within this simple statement there is much to explore. Genesis tells us that when God created the first human, he formed him out of the earth and then blew into him the breath of life and the human became a living being (Gn 2:7). We are related to God on the deepest level of our being. God’s breath is the source of our life.

The Hebrew word for breath, ruah, also means wind or spirit and is associated with God’s creative power.  God’s ruah sweeps over the face of the waters in the very first verses of Genesis. The Greek word pneuma, and the Latin word spiritus also mean breath, wind, and spirit. Ruah, pneuma, and spiritus are words that describe the livingness of God’s spirit, a spirit that creates, freely blows, and breathes new life into all that we see.

Breathing is an activity in which our bodies continually engage. We breathe without thinking, we breathe when we sleep, and even if we are unconscious. When we are healthy, breathing happens in us without our awareness, without our attention, and without our consent. Vital and essential for our life, breathing is an activity we rarely notice and yet, many religious traditions teach that paying attention to our breath is a vital practice for entering more deeply into prayer and meditation. Mindful breathing is often associated with Eastern traditions and practices like yoga and Buddhism, but attention to breath is a fundamental aspect in the Christian practice of contemplation as well.

Mindful breathing is an important practice because we often forget our bodies, our deepest selves, and our connection to God. We get lost in the thoughts circling around in our heads, thoughts about things we need to do and accomplish, problems we need to solve, and situations we are unable to control. These repetitive circling thoughts become an oppressive cloud of stress and anxiety within us. The more stressed we become the shallower our breathing. Taking even one deep and mindful breath, helps to calm us down and centers us more firmly in our bodies and in our surroundings.

The practice of mindful breathing is effective because it connects us to our deepest selves, to the space of deep listening within. Saint Paul is attentive to the mysterious depths lying within us writing,

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Romans 8: 26

The phrase, sighs too deep for words, connects Spirit and breath. This connection grows more profound when we remember that Paul wrote in Greek and in that language the word for spirit and the word for breath are the same, pneuma. As breathing happens within us without our attention, awareness, or consent, so too our connection to God is rooted more deeply than we know.  

If I take time throughout my day, to mindfully connect to my breath, I come home to myself. Mindful breathing reminds me that I am a fragile and limited human being, that my value does not lie in what I do and accomplish but in my relationship to God. Breathing happens whether I am attentive to it or not, but the more deeply I am aware of my breath, the more deeply I am aware of my body, my deepest self, and my relationship to God.

In a wonderful book on the Christian practice of contemplation, Into the Silent Land, Martin Laird provides many quotes from Christian spiritual writers exploring the connection between God and breath. From his selection of quotes, two stand out to me. Maximus the Confessor keeps it simple writing,

God is breath.

Maximus the Confessor

Theophilus of Antioch writes,

God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is his breath that gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold his breath, everything would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe—and you are unaware of it.

Theophilus of Antioch

We are related to God on the deepest level of our being. God’s breath is the source of our life.

Just Breathe!

About the Author:
Patricia Sharbaugh

Associate professor of theology at Saint Vincent College, writer, mother, grandmother. Interested in reading more?

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