The river makes the banks. The river cuts its way through, moves what it needs to, and eventually makes its mark on the landscape. Rivers are a might force of life. The breath is a river inside us.
Breath and the river point to stability and change. The trail of the breath is constant and always in the middle. When we focus upon it, even for a short moment, calm and inner stability ensue. This tells us that the only true stability is from within. And the breath adjusts to the needs of the moment, like a river adjusts and requires adjustment of the environment around it. This is the teaching of change that the breath provides. Stability and adjustment are inseparable, just like the river and its banks.
Downloadable podcast: The river and the banks