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Ekam, inhale

Ekam, inhale
This is what we do first. We breathe. When we are born, our first breath sounds like a cry. Ekam, inhale, says the universe, and we come flopping out from a liquid home world into the air. Perhaps it's the lightness that startles. Or its vastness.

I am trying to recall the Periodic Table. Which is lighter? Hydrogen or oxygen? Water or air? Difficult to separate.

When I was snorkeling in Maui with my family for the first time, I understood, finally, that it was possible to live in a liquid realm. I understood the allure, in an instant, of freediving, wanting to get as close to survival in water as possible. No mechanism other than breath. Then, of course, there's all that silence.

Which is it that makes that happen: hydrogen? oxygen?
Ekam, inhale.

At the age of 12, after having watched a demonstration of ashtanga yoga by Krishnamacharya, Pattabhi Jois left his family and presented himself to the yoga master for lessons, for a life of practice and tribute to this art.

This is the story of how ashtanga yoga ultimately made its way to the Western world. In the beginning, there was magnetism and devotion. But, first, there was that magnificent breath. To watch an ashtanga practice is to witness that force in motion. The draw to get as close to that breath as possible is magnetic. It's irresistible, fantastically timeless and ethereal.

This is how it was for me.

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