The House Is Breathing

Many weeks of house cleaning seemed to result in nothing - masses of cobwebs were being swept off the ceilings, balls of dust emerged from all possible spots.  Mud covered the floor beneath the washing machine and so on.  I'm sure you get the idea.  All work seemed to vanish into a vacuum but still I toiled away (and asked the maids to toil away) everyday!  The garden too was choked with weeds, overgrown shrubs and fallen leaves.  A few weeds yanked up everyday, a few leaves cleared out - and finally, we are able to notice the effect.

Today, it seemed to me that the house was actually breathing.  It's clogged up pores seemed open and it was inhaling great gusts of air, with relief.  The garden too seemed filled with an air of satisfied calm.  Instead of the wasps (which I had been battling for several months), butterflies wafted in and hovered over some of the plants.  They stayed there even while I was working in the garden, fluttering very close to my face.

It's a nice feeling indeed!  The calm and contentment seems to diffuse into me too.  I feel waves of peace flowing in from time to time.  I can sense instantly the change in my breathing, reminding me of an old yoga lesson that I need to practice more.  We can calm our minds by regulating our breath and when the mind is calm and receptive, the spirit breathes its stillness and creativity (a sometimes a certain knowledge) into us.  It's very nice, however, to feel peaceful when one is not focussing on trying to make it happen.  All the other things then fall into place by themselves.

So, as my house breathes with ease, I do too, quite unconsciously.  And as the bamboo rustles and the butterflies flit in and out, my life seems to be filled with the best kind of beauty there is - the natural and effortless kind.