The Beloved and I, breathing... Living through the Breath of the Beloved. An Invitation

There is a way of breathing that more than survival, it is remembrance.

This is an invitation to Breathing, to walk through inner moments and ways of remembering why a living sense of the Sacred belongs at the centre of our healing.

I would like us to explore Breathing together, not as concepts, but as doorway as inner gates opening, whispering, “I come from somewhere holy.”

Every breath we take carries a trace of the original Divine Breath, a sign of our sacred origin and our unbroken connection to the Source. In the Islamic tradition, we are told that when Allah created Adam (pbh), He breathed into him from His own Spirit (Rūh) (Qur'an, 15:29, 38:72), story that serves as a mirror for all of us.

Whether you call that Source Allah, God, Spirit, Tao, Supreme, the Beloved, or simply Love, this is for you.

These Breaths have grown in me over the years through teachings received from my beloved teachers and companions on the Path, and through the honour of accompanying many souls in my therapeutic work whilst listening to their stories of love, loss, trauma, faith, doubt, and slow, patient healing.

When Musa (Moses, pbh) approached the Burning Bush, he was told:

“Remove your sandals. You are indeed in the sacred valley of Ṭuwā.” (Qur’an 20:12)

In the same way, as we walk together here, you and I are invited to “remove our sandals”, to step in barefoot, tender-hearted, soul-receptive.

We are not walking on neutral ground. We are stepping into the inner landscape of the heart.

Dear traveller in the landscapes of the heart, I invite you to walk gently with me, and breathe with me, in adab (beautiful courtesy) to the sacred abundance found in the heart as has been inspired by the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) in my journey, whose every step on this earth was an act of remembrance and mercy.

Breath by breath, step by step, may we remember together the One who called us into being.

What follows in this series will not be a list of reasons, nor a set of instructions and definitely, nor a “how-to” for quick transformation.

It is a SPIRAL:

a sacred unfolding of breath, rooted in the rhythm of Tawḥīd (Oneness),guided by the Manifestations of the Divine (Asma Ul Husna) ,and shaped by the soul’s rhythms and movements, through longing, loss, contraction, and return.

Each Breath will be an invitation to turn inward and outward, like a rose slowly opening, and like therapy that is not just about “fixing” but about devotional presence, a kind of listening that resembles dhikr (remembrance practice) the remembrance of ourselves and the remembrance of the Beloved.

The spiral is not linear. It does not demand speed. It invites presence. And so I invite you to begin, not with answers, but with a single, living breath.

A Gentle Practice for This Breath

Right now, wherever you are:

1. Pause for a moment.

2. Let your shoulders soften, your jaw relax, your belly un-grip.

3. Inhale slowly through the nose for a count of 4. Hold softly for 2. Exhale for a count of 6.

4. As you breathe out, quietly say in your heart: “I am breathing with the Beloved.”

5. Repeat this for 3 breaths, and simply notice: What changes, even slightly, inside you?

   
   

This is where we begin. With you, the Beloved, and a single shared breath.