What do you have in common with a crocodile? Fact-checking a 
novel I’m writing, I ran across this photo I took on a trek in Australia’s tropical Northern Territory, where I came face-to-face with a twelve foot saltwater croc. Happily, these crocodiles eat only about once a week and otherwise live a pretty calm life digesting. That’s not what you have in common. Rather, it’s that these giant primordial creatures hold their breath when they’re under stress, sometimes to the point of harmful oxygen deprivation. Crocodiles have been around for some two hundred million years, through rising and falling and rising of the seas. Chances are, some of the oxygen you’re breathing right now may have once passed through crocodilian nostrils, and was just as important to the crocodile as it is to you.
We, too, tend to hold our breath or breathe shallowly under stress. It’s not a good idea for us humans. Our breathing nourishes our physical and energetic bodies and calms our minds. This holiday season give yourself the gift of listening to your breath with a small smile, harmonizing with the life energy flowing in and out and around you.
You can cultivate awareness of your breath through Qigong. My first Qigong Intensive of the New Year is scheduled for Thursday, January 2nd. I have space for three more people, so do call 541.390.9652 or email [email protected] if you’d like to join us, or to learn more.