In most spiritual traditions, the most basic terms for spirit or life force are also those that mean breath. Focusing on our breath, usually to slow and/or deepen it, puts our bodies into parasympathetic mode, the neural state of relaxation and repair, of digestion and renewal, of deeper reflection and receptivity.

This ‘para’ state is also a state ideal for learning new things and being open to creative solutions and choices. It is a state ideal for exploring spiritual imagination and connection (like prayer).

The other neural state, the sympathetic, is necessary and useful for quick response to challenge and threat of a certain literal kind (fight or flight). It is not as useful for choosing new or complex thoughts and behaviors.

Spiritual practice is a practice of the body/mind/soul whether in stillness or movement. Focus on the breath then is one of the most accessible, common, and useful moment to moment embodied practices on the planet.

It is the breath that prepares us to pray more deeply and to receive the wisdom found in the poems offered.