What’s in a Sigh?

By definition, a sigh is a deep, augmented breath that is often seen as an expression of various emotions like stress, sadness, exhaustion, and relief.  

A sigh is a sign of being in the moment.

These early summer mornings are a challenge even for a morning person like me. With the sun for an alarm clock, we wake up well before 6 AM. On the western exposure of the house, my window radiates the light bouncing off the eastern slopes of the Tortolita mountains ricocheting across the big wash and into my room.

At first, I must force my eyes to open, and when my facial muscles fail, I use my fingers and thumbs. Why do my eyelids feel like sandpaper? I have a sleep hangover.

Winnie is reluctant. Still curled up with her nose tucked under her back leg, she lifts her brows when I swing my legs out. I yawn and stretch, breathing out the excess air. Standing up, I peek through the blinds to confirm — yes indeed; it is morning, and with the sun will also rise the temperatures.

I stretch again, this time a full body reach, and when I turn, Winnie has lifted her head and turned from a curly, cinnamon-bun shaped object into a long chrysalis-looking thing. Like a butterfly emerging, Winnie slides on her belly until she is halfway out of her bed.

“It’s not getting any cooler out there,” I say. “Let’s get out there and enjoy the best the day will offer.”

Yawning now, and stretching her front legs forward, toes spread, Winnie yawns and slides the rest of the way across the bed, stopping at the edge. Knowing I will stand facing her for the obligatory body rub, she waits. She may think my fingertips are magic as I massage her skin, bringing her senses awake. Drawing a deeper breath when I stop rubbing, Winnie releases the extra oxygen with a sigh. Pranayama.

Once she is satisfied, I lift her off the bed and move her to the floor where she does a downward dog that evolves into a cobra pose. Driven by nature, with instinct as her teacher, Winnie does yoga. I marvel at and adore her.

As impressed as she is with my magic fingers, I am awestruck by her innate wisdom. To be more like Winnie in every way is the lofty goal I strive for. Now, I’m the one drawing in more oxygen and upon exhale, I reach once more to the ceiling. Stretching, yes, but also giving thanks, I woke up on this beautiful day.

After our walk and the morning meal, her bowl of Farmer’s Dog slurped up and licked clean, my coffee mug steaming as I sip, we retire to the office. Snuggled in her bed behind me, Winnie settles. With a long breath in and a slow heavy exhale, Winnie sinks in for a long morning nap.

Staring at my laptop screen, I open a blank page. My shoulders rise and my elbows stiffen as I search for words to write. Should I look at the news? Check out the cultural scene? What is trending in healthy living? My fingers, which created magic when they slid across Winnie’s fur, hover over the keyboard, but don’t move. Shrugging my shoulders up to my ears, I give a sigh. I remain ready, waiting for inspiration.

The thought process begins. Speeding back in time, I’m standing on a flatbed truck with two guys coaching me. They count down, three-two-one, and nothing happens.

“Oh,” the shallow expression escapes from my mouth and falls towards the river flowing three hundred feet below me.

“Take a deep breath,” says one professional.

“Ready?” says the other guy about ten seconds later.

I wasn’t going to do this when I woke up that morning. I wasn’t doing it twenty minutes ago when I went through the brief orientation. I signed a waiver without reading it, knowing I wouldn’t be jumping anyway. I wasn’t going to do this when they harnessed me up, connected me to the bungee and counted down the first time.

Breathing in, I cleared the old oxygen from my body, replacing it with fresh canyon air. Looking out across the gap, to the railroad bridge some 6 football fields downstream, my eyes rose higher, and I saw where the mountains meet the sky. If not now, then never.

I heard, “Three-two-one.”

Before I even finished exhaling the extra volume of air I had just taken in, I pointed my helmeted head out and not so much jumped, but fell forward, letting gravity empty my lungs.

Nothing prepares us for what’s next better than a sigh. Emotional regulation, stress release, increased alertness, or just a transition from wakefulness to sleep, a sigh is metaphorically, physically, mentally and literally a breath of fresh air.

From the smallest to the biggest, a sigh represents the need for change. There is no better way to bring one’s mind, body, and soul into the present than with a sigh.

And now, having written “the end”, I hit the save box, and “sleep” my screen. I roll my chair back and hear Winnie sigh. We will now move on to the next part of the day, fully present and ready for what’s coming.