Self-Breema in Daily Life

by Alexandra Johnson

As I was cleaning my house one afternoon, I began daydreaming about all the other places I would rather be. I saw that I was lost in my thoughts and wished to come out of the past and future, and into an experience of this moment. I decided to fold the laundry with Single Moment/Single Activity. I approached the activity as if I were doing a Self-Breema exercise. I stayed with my breath, experiencing the weight of the body sitting on the floor. I folded each piece of laundry with interest in how my body was stretching, leaning, and rocking. 

Staying with the simplicity of this activity, I noticed a harmony of body, mind, and feelings that I hadn’t seen in the moments before. The experience was so simple and profound, that I wished I could live my whole life with this perspective. Yet a moment later, I again saw that I was lost in thought, this time in planning for the rest of the day. The experience of simplicity and harmony—so deep—had receded, but was still available—waiting for the next moment of body-mind connection.

Alexandra Johnson, MD, is a Staff Instructor at the Breema Center. She has a private practice in Integrative Medicine at the Greeting Health Clinic in Oakland and Santa Cruz, California.