heart breath, notes to self

 

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All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man.  

The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

—Chief Seattle

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When you slouch, you are trying to hide your heart, protecting it by slumping over. But when you sit upright but relaxed in the posture of meditation, your heart is uncovered. Your entire being is exposed - to yourself, first of all, but to others as well. 

Through the practice of sitting still and following your breath as it goes out and dissolves, you are connecting with your heart. By simply letting yourself be, as you are, you develop genuine sympathy towards yourself. 

When you sit erect, you proclaim to yourself and to the rest of the world that you are going to be a warrior, a fully human being.

—Chögyam Trungpa

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

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Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart longs for, and have no fear.  

Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet. 

—W. B. Yeats

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Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

—William Wordsworth

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