Like many people around me, I am recovering from some form of illness. The flu is running rampant in Minnesota and in the circles where I travel. Last week it came to visit me and though it was a milder form than others have had, it still had the power to undo me. These bodies are fragile houses. We forget this sometimes. Being someone who visits hospitals a lot, I am always reminded of the gift of this home that carries my spirit about in the world.

Last week I sat with a group of people over lunch. We were reflecting on the factors needed for premature newborns to grow and be able to leave the hospital. On the top of the list? ‘Remember to breathe.’ Having spent the first months of their time in the watery world of the womb, babies of course are not breathing in the way they must outside this safe house. Coming into the world early requires speeding up the remembering to breathe reflex.

Another on the list? ‘Remember to breathe and eat at the same time.’ Ahhh, yes. Breathing and eating, in the same movements. I have thought about these needed acts a great deal over the last days. I have thought about how these same ‘requirements’ are often forgotten even by those of us who have been out of water and walking on land for some time. Perhaps my own labored breath of late impressed upon me how important the remembering really is.

I don’t know about you but there are many times during any given day when I realize I am holding my breath. In the tension of a conversation. In the frustration of traffic. When I am trying to think about the solution to a problem, make a difficult decision. Instead of allowing the inhale and exhale to send oxygen to my muscles, my brain, my heart, I am holding on for dear life to this one, simple, miraculous movement of Spirit within me.

So many times I eat the food that fuels my body while on the run or standing up or certainly without thinking, without honoring the calories that will allow my body to do the work it is meant to do. I was reminded of this while at a recent retreat. Sitting over dinner with women who filled me with such joy, I realized we were spending time eating mindfully, breathing in the beauty of the present moment, without rushing to the next thing. An hour passed and I was remembering to eat and breathe at the same time. Later I thought of how satisfying it all was and how I was not hungry in between the meals!

The Buddhist priest Thich Nhat Hahn writes: “Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” I am sure that those who have arrived in the world earlier than expected are doing just this. They are dwelling in the present moment in ways we who have walked upright for so long have turned our backs on over and over again. They will continue to fine tune their breathing memory muscle and so must we. It is the way of growth. It is the way of being present. It is the way of being alive. It is the way of the Spirit.

Are you remembering to breathe today? Are you savoring the blessed act of eating and breathing at the same time? May we all learn from these ones so new to the earth yet so recently in the palm of God’s hand.