I am standing on the beach in Glyfada. It is a windy, rainy day and I am conscious that the outer weather reflects my inner thoughts. The sea is choppy and yet in this rolling grey, a disk begins to appear through the clouds and sends a ray, lightening up a bunch of purple flowers that are growing on a small ridge. Duality in splendor brings a very deep breath, and as I breathe in I am aware of my lungs and the cold air that becomes warm and then escapes again, in the form of steam.
I am aware my feet are on the ground and that my shoes are wet. I am aware that my back is not straight and that there is a twinge on the left side of my lower back. I breathe in and out as I slowly scan my body.
I am aware I need to be hugged and I smile with a beginners mind. How incredible is this body that has begun to talk to me in more ways than one. I breathe as the sun opens the sky and peeps through at me, for a moment dancing on the drop of rain still visible on the tip of my shoe. I breathe and follow my breath, riding it like a wave until I become that wave. The sea and I unite as I breathe and let go of all judgement; I am aware I have emotion inside of me; I am aware that when I think of the past, I must let the thought go and return to this delicious present where I am alive. I am aware of my thoughts darting here and there, busy planning the next day and the day after. Soon I see the pile of thoughts that bury me completely and I find myself moving with the thoughts until I am them. I stop and breathe becoming the observer of the thoughts patient with self... how is it at all possible I got under a pile of thoughts when I was riding my breath? The sun is moving higher in the sky; I breathe. I sit on a rock, my back straight and plunge into the sensations of my body. The sweet taste of a cranberry I have in the corner of my raincoat, as I put it on the tip of my tongue, envelops me completely. I shiver as the saliva gathers in my mouth and I swallow. I breathe; the tangy salty air reminds me of mussels and star fish -- I breathe and focus on the tangy salty air... I feel it on my skin, I carry its scent in my nostrils, I am aware that my breathing is deepening, as is my listening. Even my sight now is clearer and I feel the touch of the clothes on my skin... I breathe and become my breath, accepting and letting go.
I am aware that I am aware of the beauty in my heart; I am aware that I am surrounded with beauty. I am aware that the pain in my back is no longer vividly catching my attention; I accept it and further scan my body, which is relaxed and breathing. I am aware that each cell of my body is breathing, and perfectly balanced in the now, I know that anything and everything is possible. The pain in my back is no longer; the tension in my shoulders has gone and the drop of water on the tip of my shoe has dried. I am standing on the beach in Glyfada. It is a warm day. Clouds dot the sky as they move away gently carried by the wind. I think about the world breathing. I close my eyes and open them to look at a grain of sand amidst millions of grains of sand. I can feel the air moving gently through my nostrils; I feel the wind on my skin. My hair blows out and back across my face, covering my eyes. I brush it away, aware of the movement of my arm. I breathe what some call Mindfulness in; my breath mindfully finds my nostrils and my lungs; it finds my body and eventually it finds me. I embrace it, and am aware that gratitude is inside of me -- gratitude and love mindfully connected as breathe in, aware that my breathing is far more than just a breath for I carry the universe in the rise and fall of my chest as I actively and mindfully engage in Life.