Breathe

Breathe Issue 20

Breathe Issue 20

Solitary. In Western society, it feels a loaded word, pejorative even. In fiction, the image of a solitary house, be it on the moors, in a glen or sitting atop a cliff often provides the doorway to a wretched history and inhabitants who led the most miserable lives. Similarly, a person who stands, sits or …

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Breathe Issue 19

Breathe Issue 19

‘Do what you want to do.’ On the face of it, it seems a benign (if overused) statement. But what if what you really want to do challenges or goes against society’s norms? In this case, ‘Do what you want to do’ can suddenly feel contentious, complicated and even fraught with difficulty. It doesn’t matter …

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Breathe Issue 18

Breathe Issue 18

Get out more, set ambitious intentions, ditch the morning muffin – advice (wanted or otherwise) comes thick and fast at the start of a New Year. But who really needs to be told what to do (at any time), especially when the person who knows what’s best for you is, well, you? It might not …

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Breathe Issue 17

It’s good to talk, isn’t it? Well (mostly), yes. But, sometimes, no. And not always because it’s unwanted, but because no one’s listening – not in a way that’s attentive and mindful anyway. And not in a way that will help to ease worries, solve problems or uncover positive strategies to cope with life’s bolt-out-of-the-blue …

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Breathe Issue 16

Graceful, enchanting, loyal, wistful, ghostly – how would you describe the Moon? Perhaps dependable should come high in the list of adjectives. Visible or not, the Moon is always there, quietly doing its own thing, whether that’s governing the Earth’s tides or providing a celestial calendar in the night sky. The planet’s earliest human inhabitants …

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Breathe Issue 15

It’s complicated, autumn. Always colourful, always changing, always caressing. Often challenging. The glorious yellows, reds and purples of the falling leaves that elicit gasps of delight from so many also signpost the shorter days to come. Days that for those living with Seasonal Affective Disorder will be marked by unwelcome mood swings, disrupted eating patterns …

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Breathe Issue 14

Everything’s aflutter here at Breathe. Deep into summer, the nearby gardens are full of life as friends enjoy lunchtime picnics; workers stretch their legs with a welcome run or walk; and hardworking pollinators busy themselves with the job of keeping the planet’s resources in good shape. Among them are butterflies, the iconic, much-loved creatures of …

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Breathe Issue 13

Viewed from space, Earth is momentous, glorious, unchanging. The distance offers perspective, an overview of the planet below. On the ground, it is equally as impressive, but its sands, seas and stories are constantly shifting. Such is also the case for its inhabitants. For some, however, time can seem to stand still or move so …

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Breathe Issue 12

Anger, fear, guilt. Emotions can bubble under for years (or spill over in seconds) with devastating effect. Take our tricky trio here. They are pernicious customers who can limit life choices, inhibit personal enjoyment and stifle relationships. Why is it, for instance, that so many people feel bad when they have no transgressions for which …

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Breathe Issue 11

We’ve been puzzling the past few weeks here at Breathe. Puzzling as to how to communicate without words; puzzling how not to compromise the self while still helping others; and puzzling, well, about puzzles. We’ve discovered that while solutions to many of life’s big questions are rarely straightforward they always require patience. And this is …

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