Putting Words Around the Unfolding
Create some wind.
No matter what swirls around you,
add some air to it.
Whether it is a sigh
or a deep gulp,
get it going.
Don’t get caught in the holding of your inner breezes.
This only creates pain…
Life is born in and through us
and it is only on the wing of our precious breath
that we can unfold and float
among the mountains and valleys.
This is what breathing is –
working with life.
And working with life,
is why we are here.
Copyright@Cynthia Cady Stanton, April 2022
It amazes me sometimes
how close You are.
All that is needed is
a moment
to leap out of myself
and into your breath.
I breathe in
and there You are –
and I am suddenly larger…
kinder –
to self
and beyond self.
You whisper… “See?”
And then, “Settle yourself.”
And then, “No worries.”
Finally, “Be the Love you are.”
Oh, for the presence of mind and heart
to remember this!
You are never far away
and I belong to You –
like a bird belongs to its song,
and the moon belongs
to the sky.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
If our moments are forgotten,
did we really live them?
If our thoughts are in charge,
are we present at all?
If our breath is held,
is it really a breath?
I pause with these questions
and my ears open to the hum of my home,
and the song of the birds outside.
My vision is sparked by
the morning light filtering through the trees.
The glow is beautiful.
I notice that as I write,
my posture is hunched,
and I am tight in all the usual places.
I release the usual.
Relaxing and deepening awareness
of my breath,
and my gratitude for it all,
I begin again.
I am present and I live this moment.
Grace and peace find me
in the movement of my breath.
I am ready for the gift of another day.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Today when I drove to work,
a window opened.
Instead of racing in my thoughts
about the day
and all the angst about
getting things done,
I took a breath.
Not a mindless one,
but a deep, conscious,
life-giving one.
And then I took another,
and a few more after that.
Then I could see again.
I could see how much tension
lived in me.
I could feel the tightness
loosen.
I looked out around me,
and I noticed the trees,
the smiles of others,
the beauty of the day.
All this,
from remembering to breathe!
Oh, I grieve the patterns and traps
of the mind
and its constant power
to distract from the good of life-
its endless power
to keep us busy and off track.
Grant me breath, O God,
and gleaming windows.
Help me to turn my attention
and see!
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Becoming and Beholding 