I look at my two-year old’s belly. He has a fascination with his belly button, so we see the belly a lot as he lifts up his shirt to play with it. His beautiful round belly. I watch how it goes in and out as he breathes. It’s soft and relaxed.

I look down at my own belly. It certainly isn’t going in and out. It’s certainly not relaxed, but tight and held in. I notice my breathing. It’s so shallow and in my chest. Where does the breath go? Where doesn’t it go?

I place my hands on my body. One on my heart and one on my belly. I close my eyes and allow myself to take a deep breath. The belly fills with air as I inhale. It goes back in as I exhale. With this breath my body relaxes. It’s cleansed. I allow the blood to flow with all the hormones and nutrients in it.

​I return to a natural state of childhood where I can just be present and live in the moment. A moment of harmony and serenity. A moment of acceptance and love. A moment of life. Take a deep belly breath. Try it. See where it takes you. See where you go.

Just a Balloon My two-year-old watched in delight as I blew up balloons for his birthday. The next morning, he saw one of the balloons floating on the floor. He got scared and came running to me, his body trembling. I picked up the balloon.

“Yosef, it’s a balloon.”

He continued to cling to me trembling with fear. I took a new balloon and blew it up for him, showing him that the floating object is no different than the delightful balloon he loved the day before. I picked up the balloon in my hand and held him with the other. I gently acknowledged and then made him confront his fears.

He is no longer afraid of the balloon.

It hit me. What are our fears? What are we really afraid of? Are the fears that we experience of not getting-what-we-want, of being alone, of tests and challenges – are they real? Or are they figments of our imagination, no different than a balloon…

​What happens to my body when I experience fear? Do I tense up? Do I feel my heart pounding? Am I stressed? Would it be better to acknowledge my fear and then, with a lot of faith and courage, confront it and let it go? Let’s try.