Our breath is more than a mechanical event. It is a literal and metaphorical doorway to healing. In each breath we change density and re-form, never in exactly the same way. This offers a great opportunity each of the approximately 12 times a minute that we breathe. At least 17,000 times each day, each time we breathe, we are at a threshold of transformation. During inhalation we expand. The taking in of air creates a literal and metaphorical spaciousness. In this capaciousness lies an opportunity to disengage from dysfunction, reorganize, and take on new form. The actual movements of inhalation parallel the movement of growth in a developing fetus. During each cycle of the in-breath we experience a microcosm of growth and development, and in the exhalation phase we dissolve, let go, and reenact our ultimate ‘expiration.’ The mutability of our form and function is our true identity as homeo-dynamic living, embodied beings, and this changeability is recapitulated in each cycle of inhalation and exhalation. ~ Bonnie Gintis: Engaging the Movement of Life