My clearest thinking often happens during a long hot shower. I suppose the reason is I’m in a relaxed state. First, I am giving thanks to the thousands of years of civilization that has produced the design and infrastructure that gives me access to flowing clean water (hot and cold and lots of it.) The water is pure and healing.
Prana, the life force, in me must be honored with every breath.
Each breath is an exhale and inhale. I purposefully ordered the breath as the exhale and inhale, because the starting point is emptiness. I need to be emptied before I can allow for the intake of air.
I read this somewhere and it’s stuck with me and I use it, especially when I teach yin yoga. “There are only two breaths that matter. The last breath and the breath before the last one.” This makes me pause and really recognize the fragility of life and its breadth and depth between those two moments.
I’ve been steeping in this practice to honor the prana in me by not telling a lie. Note “steeping”, and that means it’s work in progress. The journey started a long time ago. Like most people, this journey started in childhood. “Don’t lie,” or “Tell the truth”, have been indoctrinated in me since I can’t remember anymore, because I’m that old. I do remember watching “The Ten Commandments” (1956 movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille) as a child every Lent season. My parents, especially my mother, observed Lent strictly. We fasted and abstained from eating meat. She prepared delicious substitutes of sweetened garbanzo beans and silky creamy tofu with sago in sugary brown sauce. Those are my memories of Lent.
The way Catholicism was drummed into me felt dry. I earnestly tried to understand and live it heart-fully by considering a vocation as a nun. My high school yearbook shows Mother Teresa as someone I aspired to be. But, after a deep and sorrowful soul searching I didn’t become a nun.
After 30 plus years of absence I’ve returned to my Catholic tradition, and it’s been a joyful and lively return like the parable of the Prodigal Son. Now, I am re-absorbing it with an adult mind. My take on the ninth commandment of “Do not lie” (Exodus 20:16 ) is to honor the prana. The breath is a manifestation of the prana. I use my breath to express a word or a phrase. If I tell a lie then I am not honoring my prana.
Another view, and related to honoring the prana is the virtue of Ahimsa that means “non-violence”.
The pellets of tempered water washes over me, my head bowed under the shower.
In my limited circle of influence my intention is to do no harm by non-violence of endeavoring to tell the truth always. This path honors my prana and the prana in others.
