Day 23 - The Magical Air That You Breathe

"It is quite possible to leave your home for a walk in the early morning air and return a different person - beguiled, enchanted."

Marry Ellen Chase (1887 - 1973)

Educator and Writer

If someone had told me a few years back to be grateful for the air that I breathe, I would have thought the person was crazy. It wouldn't have made a bit of sense to me; why on earth would anyone be grateful for the air they breathe?

But has my life changed from using gratitude, the things that I took for granted or didn't give a second thought about became an absolute miracle to me. I went from sweating the small stuff in my little world and say-to-day life, to opening my eyes and thinking about the bigger picture and wonder of the Universe.

As the great scientist Newton said, "When I look at the solar system, I see the Earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance."

Those words made me think more and more about the bigger picture. It's not an accident that there's a protective atmosphere surrounding us, and that beyond it there0s no air or oxygen. It's not an accident that the threes give off oxygen so that our atmosphere s continually replenished. It's not an accident that our solar system is perfectly placed, and that if it were anywhere else in the galaxy we would most likely be devastated by cosmic radiation. There are thousands of parameters and ratios that support life on Earth; all of them are on a knife-edge, and their fine-tuning is so critical that a fraction of a difference is any of these parameters and ratios would make life unlivable on planet Earth. It is difficult to believe any of these things could have happened by accident. It would seem that they are perfectly designed, perfectly placed, perfectly balanced, for us!

When the realization hits you that all of these things might not be an accident, and that the balance of every microscopic element surrounding Earth and on Earth is in perfect harmony to support us, you will feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for life, because all of it has been done to sustain you!

 The magical air that you breathe is not an accident of a fluke of nature. When you think about the enormousness of what had to take place in the Universe for us to have air, and you then take a breath, breathing air into your body becomes breathtaking in every sense of the word!

We take on a breath after another and never give a thought to the fact that there is always air for us to breathe. Yet oxygen is one of the most plentiful elements in our body, and as we breathe, it feeds every cell in our body so that we can continue to live. The most precious gift of our life is air,  because without it, none of us would last more than a few minutes.

When I first began to use gratitude's magical power, I used it for a lot of personal things that I wanted. And it worked. But it was when I began to be grateful for the real gifts in life, that I experienced the ultimate power of gratitude. The more grateful I became for a sunset, a tree, the ocean, the dew on the grass, my life, and the people in it, every material thing  I've ever dreamed of having poured down upon me. I now understand the reason why it happened that way. When we can feel truly grateful for the precious gifts of life and nature, like the magical air that we breathe, we have reached one of the deepest possible levels of gratitude. And whoever has that depth of gratitude will receive absolute abundance.

Today stop and think about the glorious air that you breathe. Take five deliberate breaths, and feel the feeling of the air moving inside your body, and feel the joy of breathing it out. Take five full breaths in and out five different times today, and after you have taken each set of five breaths say the magic words, "Thank you for the magical air that I breathe", and be as genuinely grateful as you can for the precious, life-giving air that you breathe!

It is best if you can do this magical practice outside so you can really feel and appreciate the magnificence of fresh air, but if that's not possible than do it inside. You can close your eyes while taking the breaths, or you can do it with your eyes open. You can do it while you're walking, waiting in line, shopping, or anywhere at any time you want. The important thing is to deliberately feel the feeling of the air going in and out of your body. Breathe the way you naturally breathe, because this magical practice is not about your breathing, but about your gratitude for the air you breathe. If taking a bigger breath helps you to feel more gratitude, the do that. If it helps to make a sound or mentally say the magic words, thank you,  as you breath the air out, then do that. If you want you can also do a variation of this practice in the future, by imagining you're breathing in gratitude and filling yourself up with every breath you take.

In ancient teachings it is said that when a person reaches the point of being deeply grateful for the air that they breathe, their gratitude will have reaches the new level of power, and they will have become the true alchemist, who can effortlessly turn every part of their life into gold!

Magic Practice Number 23

The Magical Air That You Breathe

1. Count Your Blessings: Make a list of then blessings. Write why your grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.

2. Five times today, stop and think about the glorious air that you breathe. Take five breaths, and feel the feeling of the air moving inside your body, and feel the joy of breathing it out.

3. After you have taken the five breaths, say the magic words: Thank you for the magical air that I breathe. Be as grateful as you can for the precious, life-giving air that you breathe.

4. Just before you go to sleep tonight hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.