I dance because it makes me come alive. I dance to let go. I dance to get out of my head, to shake my bones, to feel free. I dance to shake off the past and be in the present. I dance to remember who I really am. I dance to express what I feel. I dance because sometimes it’s the only thing that makes sense. I dance because it feels so good. I dance to cry. I dance to feel joy. I dance to fully express what it is to be alive in this body. I dance to expand my world and to come back to my centre. I dance to remember how amazing life is. I dance to be myself. I dance to connect with others. I dance to speak with my body and without words. I dance because it feels bloody amazing!

"Breathing in, I feel calm.
Breathing out, I smile."

This meditation is shared by Thich Nhat Hanh in his beautiful book, The Energy of Prayer. I have been practicing this meditation recently, and find it to be powerful and simple to practice, wherever you are.

"Breathing in, we give our attention to our breath. We feel the calmness for as long as we are breathing in. Just as when we drink a cool glass of water, our insides feel cool. In meditation practice, whenever the mind is calm and peaceful the body is also calm and peaceful, because the conscious breath brings the body and mind together again. When breathing out we smile in order to relax all the muscles in our face; there are about three hundred of them. Our nervous system is also relaxed when we smile. The smile is the result of us feeling calm from breathing in, and the smile is also a cause that helps us to become relaxed and feel the peace and joy that is clearly increasing in us."

I like simple things, so even I can practice this meditation! But sometimes I forget beautiful simplicity, and get carried away with life's ups and downs, and start to feel that life is terribly complex. I forget to stop and breathe. So let's strip life back to simple again. Press the 'pause' button and return to our breath.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, scholar and human rights activist living in France.