Presence

Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.

I follow my breath. The movement is familiar, automatic, natural. Surya Namaskara is my home. The point from which I travel into the known and unknown. My breath is my vehicle. I am centered, strong, and powerful with my breath guiding me. Chitta vritti, mind chatter, rises up and I am quiet, supple, and soft as I allow my breath to drown out any thoughts. I come back to my own essence, what it means to be me in this body, in this mind, in this spirit, in this existence. And as I begin to free myself from the automatic movement I feel a freedom in the uncertainty. I begin to listen to the drums and move to the rhythm of my own soul. I don't know which asana will flow from me next, or if it will even be an asana. I don't think. I let go and move from a place more me than any other movement, word, or expression could be. It's sensual, it's slow, I taste and feel every hand placement, every rise and fall of my chest like I might never experience them again, and then it hits me--I won't. I will never experience this same movement in this same way ever again. It becomes a need to be fully here, fully expressing, fully feeling, fully alive. Presence is the point of it all. Presence begins with Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale, Inha...

Photography by Eric R. Ward