Conscious Breathing Beneath the Canopy of Life

by Maria Lisa Polegatto

Also published in The Edge Magazine

​As I stand in the forest, I am reminded of the wisdom the trees possess, after years of quietly watching the world around them while holding roots with each other in their close-knit family. They have the joy of watching wildlife come and go in their branches, giving shelter and food to sustain life while drinking fresh water to prevent floods of the trickling streams, rivers, lakes and oceans nearby. How powerful nature is as it freely grows and allows us to grow with it.

I am surrounded by these beautiful life-affirming natural wonders that invite me into their forest to share with them. I am in awe as I breathe deeply their oxygen to fill my lungs while holding love in my heart as long as I can before breathing out carbon dioxide with the intention to feed the trees in our symbiotic relationship. I am conscious of each breath as I marvel at their towering height while I look up at their tops high in the sky and wrap my arms around them to thank them for their wisdom, love and understanding — as their family reaches far and wide, as they scatter acorns as nuts for wildlife to eat and use.

Each breath I take, I am reminded of how precious life is and how we are all connected to help each other grow. I am thankful and ask for forgiveness and direction under the canopy surrounded by nature’s awe-fulfilling glow giving me energy as I breathe in love, using my senses to take in the delicate leaves, needles and berries extending from the tough exterior that wraps them in the protection of their soft, warm sap that flows within. I am aware as I breathe with them that we are both living and breathing for the benefit of each other. I am blessed by the squirrels that scamper in the branches, the woodpecker that knocks on a nearby tree to take my attention at this moment to see the hawk gliding above in the light that filters rays of sunshine through the treetops to remind me how divine and purposeful our world is.

Each breath I take, each tree I hug, each scent from the oozing sap, I can see that God has bestowed upon us what no man may put asunder for He is giving us life until our last breath as we renew, as do the trees into the soil, earth to ashes to dust, until we breathe in His life again.

My spirit is renewed with awareness as my body is filled with the intention of life-affirming breath and my mind is cleared from attention-seeking clutter. I am at peace in the flow of life beneath the canopy sharing love as nature sings in His unending glory.