Breathe in, Breathe out

“Take a deep breath. Focus on your chest or stomach as it goes in and out.” Yinka Reis told us during our first, physical class on the “Search Inside Yourself” course. It was the second day of our orientation as the new EMBA 28 set. I could not attend the first day as I had a family emergency which meant I had to be in court the day before. 

Nevertheless, I woke up feeling enthused about my first day at the Lagos Business School. I did not feel like driving so I called my cab guy, Tosin, to bring me. We arrived early at 8:45 am and I was quickly shown the way to my class.  I wore one of my formal dresses because I thought it was a requirement. But when I arrived at the Intercontinental Bank Classroom, I immediately discovered that I was overdressed. Anyway, Toyin was kind enough to instruct us on the school’s codes of conduct and expectations around class participation, exam practices, dressing, et al. 

The Search Inside Yourself Course was handled by General Tunde and Yinka Reis. It was unlike any course I had taken before in my life. I scanned through the faces of my colleagues, the people I would be spending the next 24 months with. Just like me, I could see on their faces that the Search Inside Yourself course was new and disruptive. I mean, it is rather disruptive to be told to look within when we have been trained all our lives to look without. In this part of the world, we are forced to focus on tangible things rather than intangible things. But who would blame us? With more than half our population living below the poverty line, food on your table takes precedence over your mental health. So, here we are, sitting under the tutelage of the beautiful Yinka Reis, being asked to focus on the most important thing in our lives – our breath. 

Up until that minute, I did not really consider my breath to be the most important thing in my life. If you had asked for a list, I certainly would not have said “the breath in my lungs”. But she was right. If I had no breath, I would be located on earth in a rather cold and deserted place. Also, I would not be on my feet but six feet under, soulless and immovable. If I had no breath, food would not matter nor would my bills or never-ending responsibilities. Or anything else for that matter. As we took those deep breaths, albeit strange and somewhat divergent, my heart was filled with overwhelming gratitude. 

I instantly became grateful for the ability to breathe without aid. My mind quickly flashed to the year 2020. The year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxygen was more expensive than gold. The disease was one of the great levellers of our time; death was on a rampage. It took away the rich, regardless of all their wealth, as it took away the poor who had none. All you needed to do in that year was breathe. And as I took those deep breaths that afternoon, I searched the faces of my colleagues whose breaths were just as important and wondered what thoughts seeped through their minds.

Thankfully, we were encouraged to have meaningful, quick conversations with the person within the closest proximity. The conversations were rapid reflections of the several exercises we had undertaken. During this activity, I learnt yet another important lesson – listening to others is fast becoming a superpower. With the advent of social media, and the noisiness associated with it (everyone seems to have an opinion on everything these days), it was refreshing to just sit and listen. 

I met Akinwande Adeniji, an entrepreneur (he runs his own business) who is committed to picking up the necessary skills during the EMBA program for running a successful business in Nigeria. We shared our thoughts on the exercises and our core competencies. I came away from the conversations feeling he was no longer a stranger but someone whose name I not only knew but could identify with. Amazingly, he kept my name tag and handed it over to me at the next class. Shout out to Akinwande!

In summary, I left the class that day realizing two important things. The first thing is this – my breath is the most important thing in my life. Everything else pales in comparison. As long as there is breath in my lungs, I will be grateful and take each day as it comes. Secondly, the world has become too noisy. Social media has exacerbated this by making the world a microcosm of sorts. I only have to open my phone, and voila! the noise comes rushing in.  Amidst all that noise, you can forget to be human and ignore those seated right next to you. It is therefore imperative to pause intermittently, put away the noise, listen to the person right next to you and just breathe.