All Sun Breathing Forms Novels & Stories

I hope he didn’t notice me gawking at him. Once everyone finds their own thing to do and work on, I crawl into my tent and do some deep breathing exercises. It’s something my parents taught my siblings and I to do. It’s good for your heart because in order to live you must breathe. We focused on the breath of life. My legs are crossed and my hands lay on my the sides of my knees with my palms facing upwards as I breathe and take in my new environment. I left the door flap to my tent open so every now and then a small light breeze comes to cool me down.

/Emily/ Beginning of June Now First, second, third, and fourth. I am concentrating to calm down my breathing. In, out, in, out, attempting to make the breaths longer so that they are more tortoise-like and less hare-like, which is how they feel right now because they are racing. My palms are sweating, which causes my hands to become glued to the steering wheel. It feels almost as if I'm working with clay on my pottery wheel.

The light from my hands is so bright now, it floods the whole room like a river of sunlight. “Why is this happening?” Tears are building in my eyes. “I’m not sick. This isn't normal. I don’t understand this!” Declan kneels in front of me. “Breathe,” he mutters calmly. “Just breathe. Don’t focus on the light. Just focus on your breath.” “But—” “Trust me.” He takes a slow, deep breath and motions for me to copy him. I suck in air, hold it, and release it. My shoulders shake.

Instinctively, I open up to let him in and that's when I drag in the first breath of air. I tear my mouth away from his as I gulp in several times, battling to breathe once again. “Lily, look at me. Try to breathe slowly, like this. In. Out. In. Out.” While he says this, his eyes are pinned on mine and he's doing the breathing exercise along with me. I follow his leading, inhaling when he does and exhaling when he does, mirroring his actions and searching his face like it has all the answers I need.

The first exercise was deceptively simple—breathing. They stood in the circle courtyard as the light shifted from morning to noon, the silver sun hanging pale and thin through the mist. “Energy responds to rhythm,” Teagan explained. “You inhale the pulse of the world, exhale your fear. Every movement should follow that current.” Elise tried. She mimicked the stance—feet grounded, hands raised slightly, fingers spread. The air around her felt dense, alive, vibrating faintly. She drew in a deep breath. It hit her chest like cold fire, spreading through her veins.

Thorne sat on a flat rock and gestured for me to stand before him. “Same as last night,” he said. “Start with the breathing. Slow in… slow out. Let the air move through you like a stream over stones. Don’t push it. Just let it happen.” I closed my eyes. In... hold... out. My shoulders began to relax, and my rhythm started to match Finn’s tiny heartbeat against my chest. "Good," Thorne whispered. "Now, for the shift. Do not force it. Just a partial one. Let the wolf rise like mist over the water. Feel the edges first."

"In for four counts. Watch. One, two, three, four." I tried to follow but my breath stuttered and caught. Tears streamed down my face, hot against my cold skin. I couldn't do it. I couldn't breathe right, couldn't calm down, couldn't be strong enough for what was coming. "That's okay. Try again. Just watch me." He breathed in again, slow and controlled. "One, two, three, four. Now hold. One, two. Now out. One, two, three, four, five, six." He repeated the pattern, his hands still cradling my face. "You don't have to match me perfectly. Just try. Even one good breath helps."

Her hands were flat on the surface, very still. I looked at the projection screen. I looked at my empty notebook. I wrote a single word. Circled it. Then pressed the pen down until the circle became a dark, unreadable blur. Harlan called the group exercise twenty minutes before the end of class. "Stabilization breathing," he said, distributing slips of paper to the front row to pass back. "Used historically by bonded pairs to manage surge events, moments of elevated bond response that can become overwhelming if uncontrolled. Today you'll practice the technique with a partner." He gestured to the slips. "Pairs are assigned. Find your partner, face each other, and follow the guide sheet."

Kenna says excitedly. “Okay, now, when you take that breath into your stomach, you have to blow it out through the two openings in the back of your throat. Don’t push it out of your mouth, that will just make a humming sound. It has to go through those two openings. That’s what they are for.” We practice for the rest of the evening, helping her find her calling in her human form. Afterward, I have her curl up in front of the fire on a sleeping bag I brought for her.

I relaxed my shoulders and let my breaths in and out slower than I was before. "Now become aware of your senses, what can you hear around you? What do you smell? Take notice of the small strokes of air brushing against your cheeks. Describe it for me," I inhaled expanding my diaphragm and lungs. I let the breath out and focused on the small morning breeze that softly brushed against my cheeks and ears.