Wind

How the breath of a cave shows us the intersection between our physical and metaphysical worlds

I recently visited two caves. Both Jewel and Wind Caves located in South Dakota are believed to be some of the world’s largest underground passages, yet they remain largely unmapped. To understand more about these mysterious places, scientists have turned to wind. These two caves have an unusually strong “breath” at their natural entrance, alternately inhaling or exhaling winds up to 40mph as the cave reconciles its internal pressure with that of the world outside. This breath has fascinated indigenous people and scientists for centuries as they wonder at the unexplored depths contained within.

Wind Cave carries deep religious significance for the Lakota people. The mysterious ways the cave breathes makes it a sacred place, one that is a central component of this First Nation’s origin story.

There is something special about this wind, and the inhalations and exhalations of the cave leave me thinking about the power of wind more generally - both physically and metaphorically.

For centuries, meditation has tapped into the power of our breath as a centering practice, a way of grounding and staying present. Until I visited these caves, I had never thought about expanding the concept of the breath to include wind. What if we could use wind as a metaphorical tool to merge these two worlds and impact our perspective?

Here’s an example…

Yesterday was a windy day - a day filled with literal and figurative wind, both of which had me experiencing all sorts of emotions.

The literal:

Out on my bike in the Badlands, I felt annoyed by the gusty winds blowing my front wheel, making it tough to hold a straight line as cars, campers and scores of motorcycles zoomed past (our trip to South Dakota coincides with the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally). But this same dry wind made quick work of our hanging laundry and allowed us to send our kite dancing up into its currents.

The figurative:

On the same bike ride, my mind sailed through the erratic winds I’ve felt about where my life is headed and where I want it to go. And later, on a hike, I watched my son struggle, preoccupied with thoughts of self doubt and negativity swirling into an internal storm that kept him focused inward unable to enjoy our excursion through ancient rock formations.

I thought about the breathing cave entrance - the intersection point of internal and external wind - and wondered if I could use this concept as a metaphor to conceptualize my own experiences of these literal and figurative winds. What if, when the pressure felt too great on the outside, I could use my internal wind to adjust my experience and gain perspective?

Out on my bike, annoyed by the headwind, I could channel the Dutch word, “uitwaaien” which literally translates to “out blowing,”  encouraging people to go out into windy weather to clear the mind. I could equalize the frustration I was feeling on the outside by exhaling into it, harnessing the power of my internal wind, the fact that I was out in a new place enjoying the peace of a solitary ride, to temper my annoyance.

While we were out on our hike and my son was trapped in his emotional storm, his stress was palpable. We had been talking for a half hour and nothing I said was helping. I finally, and somewhat exasperatedly, encouraged him to stop, feel the wind on his face and go explore the buttes with his brother who was hunting for fossils. It worked, he found his pressure balance by focusing less on what was going on inside and more on what he was feeling and could be experiencing externally. He let the outside breath into him and found the most exciting fossil of the day.

Wind is powerful.

Just as we can use our own breath to center ourselves, calm our emotions and lower our heart rate, we can tap into the broader sense of wind to equalize our pressure when we find ourselves out of balance. Too much going on inside? What’s it feel like outside? And too much blasting us from the outside? How do we bring our internal breath to equalize it?

One of my favorite outdoor brands, Stio, has a great tagline, “Let the outside in.” I love this, and there can be more. Occasionally, we may also need to let the inside out.