Breath Like a Friend

Today, I practiced meeting my breath gently.
Not as a task. Not as something to fix or control.
Just… as a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.

At first, I noticed how subtle it was.
How the breath came and went without needing me.
How it was already doing its work—quietly, patiently.

And then I realized:
The breath has always been here.
Through joy. Through sorrow.
Through effort and exhaustion.

I often come to practice trying to get somewhere.
But today, I let the breath come to me.
And in that small shift, I felt met.
Not by some outside presence, but by something whole within me.

A quiet kindness.
A steady rhythm.
A place to rest.

Today, I didn’t chase presence.
I received it.