The Fool card shows a youth on the edge of a cliff, one step away from falling over the edge into the unknown. As the first card in the tarot, the image reflects how we experience trying something new ourselves. There’s excitement and fear, hope and doubt.
The first moment of life is accompanied by a hearty gasp of air. Our first breath. It is a pivotal entrance into something new. Infinite possibilities await. Infinite potential is at the ready, as is the case in any new undertaking.
So how are we going to greet the many new beginnings we experience throughout our lives?
With a great big gulp of air? With ragged uneven gasps? With shallow sips of air that give us so little oxygen it’s a miracle we don’t keel over? Or with a long deep calming breath.
Anxiety, insecurity, fear… whether they occur briefly in response to meeting someone new, giving a talk, or proposing an idea, or whether these emotions are part of a chronic habit developed long ago, they will show up in your breathing as a shallow, fast, breath pattern, also called your breath “signature”.
Just as handwriting experts can read much into a person’s character by their written signature, likewise your breath signature reveals much about you. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we are reading each other’s breath signatures all the time, and they form a big part of the first impression we make on others, and will therefore play a significant role in how well we build rapport with others.
Your breathing signature also affects your posture and voice.
Vancouver voice coach Danielle Benzon (getstagejoy.com) taught me some interesting tips about voice, for instance, that breathing from your belly relates to connecting, while breathing from your pelvis relates to power. While we may want to connect when we meet a new client or are networking, power is useful when it comes to speaking in front of an audience.
All in all, your voice and breathing pattern is going to reveal more about you than the content of what you say. Renowned voice coach and the author of “The Right to Speak“, Patsy Rodenburg has this advice:
- Breathe as you walk into an interview or audition.
- Breathe while either is in progress.
- Breathe while the other person is talking.
- Breathe as you wait for the results.
- Breath as you walk on stage for the press night.
- Breathe as you face your parent.
- Breath as you confront your spectres.
In sum, for those like the tarot Fool, who are on a new path with their careers, friendships, health or love life… begin with a nice, long, deep breath.
***The three Fool cards above are from: “Legend: Arthurian Tarot” by Anna-Marie Ferguson, the “Radiant Rider-Waite”, and “The Mythic Tarot” by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Green.