When the Gym Gets Loud | The Parking Lot Breath Reset

Whistles warp time, lights glare

Balls pop across dozens of courts

Volleyballs fly, and I need to step outside

My eyes struggle as they adjust to the sun

I pause, close my eyes

Turn my face to its warmth

My eyes settle

Face warms

I breathe in for four

My body settles

I hold for seven

My mind returns to me

I let go for eight

These travel volleyball tournaments are high-flying, high-stress time machines. Up before the sun, eating when you can, rarely located near anything but fast food.

Underslept. Poorly nourished. Time not my own to call.

So I call on what I know.

I step outside—to breathe, to feel the breeze, the sun.

I remember Zee Clarke’s 4-7-8 breathing, the breath I reach for when I’m feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated—and gyms, filled with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of athletes, parents, and coaches cheering, going full tilt—are just that.

Four in—seven hold—eight out.

:|| again

It’s February 17.

Somewhere, far south of here, penguins are possibly the only ones looking up at a ring of fire—an annular solar eclipse—a time warp of their own when suddenly day turns to night for just minutes.

We won’t see it from these bleachers. But I know it’s happening.

The sun, still there, the moon temporarily blocks its light from view, save for one bright, spectacular ring.

This is the kind of day that asks for steadiness, trusting the light is there and will return.

In a gym, removed from nature's light, I remember:

I can step outside.
Turn my face to the sun.
Invite my breath to steady me.

The solar eclipse, that ring of fire far from here, reminds me that even when something appears eclipsed—rest, ease, nourishment—the light waits to widen again.

Four
Seven
Eight

Warmth returns
Time slows
I return to myself

We see the sun again.

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