Breathing Together
When I go to visit my parents in Ohio I visit a beloved neighborhood yoga studio that's become a home away from home. I've been going to this studio for so long now that the address that they have for me is the small Montana town where I lived 17 years ago.
One cold February evening I went to a 6:00 pm class. Being winter, it was already dark outside and the studio was very warm, heated hot for class, and dark, lit by a few candles.
We lay on our yoga mats in rows, breathing together, tightly packed in the room, breathing out the cares of the day and breathing in our hopes for more ease, or patience, or presence.
A poem began to write herself. And when I returned home to my parents' house, I wrote her down.
Breathing Together by Karly Randolph Pitman
Lying on the floor
you hear the weighted sigh
as fifty bodies exhale together.
Your breath, hollowed out
like an accordion, empties
into the incense scented air,
joins the gathering cloud.
You offer your breath to the earth,
send the plume to the trees
outside the window, then inhale
their exhale into the forest of your lungs.
You release the ashy residue of irritation,
a tight clump of grief,
your sticky worry for your son.
You breathe out your collective toil,
imagine a trail from each body, braided
into a larger sigh. You breathe together
and breathe until the pain isn't my pain
or your pain but ours – out and out
and out, your wordless prayer.
O Nobly Born is a reader supported newsletter. If you appreciate receiving the poems of O Nobly Born, you can bless this offering by subscribing to the newsletter (click on the red button below) or make a donation by credit card or through paypal at paypal@growinghumankindness.com. I cherish every donation, as they support this work and enable me to offer her freely to all.
With a grateful heart, Karly
Join me for the next session of Gathering Ourselves, March 27th
If you’re looking for a warm, supportive space to breathe together, please join me and my co-facilitator, Tamara Neufeld Strijack, for Gathering Ourselves.
Gathering Ourselves is a creativity circle to connect more deeply with ourselves and each other. We use imagery, poems, children's books, songs, prompts, and our own creative expression – whether it’s collage, writing, drawing or more – to nurture a more generous, compassionate relationship with our inner world.
For March we'll be exploring the theme of Reaching for the Light. You don’t have to think of yourself as creative or a writer to come - merely a desire to show up and play.
We'll be meeting on Friday, March 27th from 10 am to 1 pm Pacific time/11 am to 2 pm Mountain/12 to 3 pm Central/1 to 4 pm Eastern/6 to 9 pm London time.
These circles are sacred spaces where we can let down, be, and rest for a while. I'm so moved by how tender we are with each other and the way we strengthen our relationship with ourselves.
If you feel moved to join us, we'd love to have you!
“Play allows us a safe distance as we work on what’s close to our hearts.” - Mr. Rogers
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