Fires near my local Lake Tahoe home town have been burning since June, with the latest and closest being the Caldor Fire, over 70% contained, yet still smoldering and affecting air quality ~ that’s over 4 months of smoke and altered light. Gratefully, homes were not lost in my community but the forests literally out our back doors have been greatly impacted.
For those in fire zones across the US—breath—the primary anchor when practicing mindfulness is often triggering. I speak from personal experience and listening to people again and again ask, “How can I focus on my breathing when it’s compromised?”
Masks restricted our oxygen intake, now smoke—what can we do when breath becomes triggering? Here’s the good news, there are many anchors beside breath to help bring our mind back to our bodies, and they are only limited by imagination:
* Sounds - bird song, the sound of the bell, the fan in the air purifier (!), music
* Sights - petals of a flower, the face of a beloved one, moonlight, patterns of tree bark
* Taste - sipping tea, chewing gum, a favorite meal, freshly tooth-brushed mouth
* Smell - essential oils, a pot of soup, fresh squeezed lemon, wet earth
* Touch - soft fur of an animal companion, body-heat, souls of feet on the stable floor
Personally, my favorite go-to during the months of fire has been touch as a practice anchor, because it’s the only sense not overly impacted by fire conditions. Ears are assaulted by helicopters overhead dropping water and retardant and the eerie absence of forest creature sounds, smoke-haze fills sight, taste, smell, but smoke does not impact touch, so it seems an important key anchor when we are living mindfully in fire zones.
A friend recently shared in community that one day, when air quality was well over 1,000, her mind “just kind of snapped.” She gathered her dog, got in the car and started driving west on the highway. After an hour and a half, she realized she had not grabbed a single thing, no clothes, food, she had only taken her wallet and dog. “I felt like a wild animal, I just had to get away.” All of us listening understood. Our body wisdom knows—when breath is compromised it is not safe, we should leave, take flight and find clearer air to breathe.
Fortunately, our blue sky moments this week were more than half the days as fires calm and cool with the start of Autumn. Breathing clean air is a true source of joy. Through applied practice of mindfulness during major fire, I’ve come to understand very deeply ~ clean air is an irreplaceable resource, deeply appreciated and respected as triggering when it is not plentiful. Working with other anchors besides breath expands sense perceptions and grows gratitude. Clean and unobstructed air is everything.
Dear Karla, my heart goes out to you and every living being affected by fire, smoke, and the inability to breathe (COVID, police). It seems like the catchphrase of our times is “I can’t breathe.” Thank you for this simple and beautiful meditation on other anchors we have available when breath is compromised.