When I asked the guys and gals at work this morning to throw out a topic I could weave into my daily blog post for tonight about change and transformation, the first one I heard was “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move on.” Tom delivered this offering, which he also shared is the title of a song by the late, great Jimmy Buffet.

Tom embodies a spirit full of vitality and presence that instantly magnetizes others. He’s lived what seems like the equivalent of three lifetimes’ worth of experiences, and his perspective is tuned in a way that reflects just that. I’ve had the joy of spending time outside of work with Tom and his gracious wife, Kathy. She also carries an energy of complete acceptance and beautiful curiosity. I can see why they make such a great team of 40-something years, if I recall correctly. If ever two people remained strong in a hurricane, they are the two.

As I’ve been working to minimize my overthinking muscle, I’ve used two things as the instant antidote: long, deep belly breaths and bringing my attention back to this precious present moment. Speaking of which, let’s take one together, shall we? Breathe in one, two, and three…… and breathe out one, two, three.

Isn’t that just the most delicious feeling?

Lately, I’ve been hearing so much about how we’ve just plain forgotten how to breathe as humans, and I am one of those very humans. While hiking in Oregon, I noticed that I was breathing such quick, shallow mouth breaths during strenuous portions of inclining up the mountain. My hiking partner reminded me to breathe deeply through my nose.

Triple-board-certified Dr. Zach Bush is one of the world’s most prolific visionaries of our time. In his 50-ish years on the planet, he’s lived what he calls a meandering, and what I call living the paradox (the “AND” not the “OR”). His blend of knowledge across the spectrum of the always-polarizing topic of health has opened doors of insight, and his humility has enabled new perspectives to be shared with the masses. He’s a true vessel for change. In this YouTube short, he explains the breathing crisis we’re experiencing as a species. Turns out, I’m not alone in my shallow breaths.

Jimmy Buffet and my friend Tom know that the key to riding life’s hurricanes is in following these three steps:

1. Breathe In
2. Breathe Out
3. Move On

I believe that Universal truths require zero intellect to be known. They are the birthright of every human, and the knowing comes from that place deep within the center of all our beings. Complexity is not required for something to be a truth – in fact, it’s much the opposite according to the great thinkers of our world. This Jimmy and Tom philosophy is simple, and it’s my sense that we know it to be a Universal truth when we hear it.

But if you’ll please humor me, I love to dive deep into things, so here’s what I like to think is happening when we apply their beautiful process.

1. Breathe In: we become present. We remove ourselves from stories about the past or the future. We drop from any narrative, detach from the mind, and become our human BEing selves. This moment also suggests that we’re accepting of whatever it is that life is throwing at us. I find this fascinating because any time I’m experiencing something I don’t want to accept or feel – my stomach flipping during airplane descent or getting waxed, for example – I stop breathing. I contract. My physiology is rejecting what is. To ‘breathe in’ is to be courageous and face whatever life has presented with gracious acceptance.
2. Breathe Out: we merge with life during the inhale, allowing the experience to enter us in our nonresistance to what is. The merger of life with our physical body creates emotional responses, which we then release in our exhale. We return creation to creation after putting our stamp on it. It’s like the good ole days when we’d check out a library book and see the former stamps from other checkouts. Then ours is added.
3. Move On: we become a blank canvas. In the next moment, life will paint us again with her creation, and the process repeats.

And speaking of repeat, I’ve been listening to this song on repeat while I’ve typed this up tonight. The timing of the last paragraph with the lyrics I just heard suggests it’s time to wrap this up.

“Don’t try to explain it just bow your head and breathe in, breathe out, move on.”

Touche.

Thank you to Jimmy and, most of all, Tom.