Hi everyone. I'm Josh, and this is The Emerald,

currents and trends through a mythic lens.

The podcast where we explore an ever-changing world and our lives in it

through the lens of myth, story, and imagination.

The Emerald.

All that's happening on this episode to breathe together.

So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a moment to pause.

If you're driving, keep both hands on the wheel, of course, keep focused and alert. But there's no reason that drivers can't breathe while

driving. In fact, in New Mexico, where I live, with its notorious driving, it had benefit all

of us if a few more people learned how to drive and breathe at the same time.

Let's find some length along the spine and let the breath move easily in and out.

Not forced, but present. Not trying to rush air into the body, but simply allowing the breath to be.

Inhaling.

Exhaling.

Inhaling. Ex exhaling.

What happens when we do this?

Generally speaking, there's a calming effect, perhaps an enlivening effect.

Maybe with the little bit of perspective that a breath brings, we see how many thoughts and

agitations are circling around the headspace. The way that a receding tide reveals little tumbling shells.

Maybe with a few deep, conscious breaths we can feel where we've been holding unnecessary tension,

where we've been bracing against life, bracing against the world, trying to weave a protective

web by tightening the fas facial layers of the body.

...