An essay on Melodio’s May theme of the month: My Body, My Home

For a long time, I didn’t see my body as a home. More like something that had to function. Something that was supposed to carry me, keep up the pace, look good, and ideally never slow down. I was in it. But I wasn’t with it.

And that difference is much greater than it might seem.

On the outside, everything seemed right. I was interested in a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise. I had the discipline, the information, and an idea of what was “good” for the body. But inside, something was missing. A connection was missing. Contact. The ability to truly perceive myself.

For a long time, I didn’t realize that the body isn’t a given or a tool for performance. It’s the space in which we experience our entire lives. And when we aren’t connected to it, we often aren’t fully present in life itself.
That realization didn’t come dramatically. It wasn’t one big turning point. More like a quiet pause. A moment when I could no longer continue as before.

I remember the moment when, after a long time, I really noticed my breath. It was fast, shallow, restless. As if I were constantly ready to handle something. And that’s when I realized it wasn’t just about my breath. It’s about how I live. How I function. How I treat myself.

At that moment, my breath became a mirror for me. It showed me the state I was in without me having to label it in complicated terms. And at the same time, it became a path back to myself.

I started out very simply. Slowing down. Focusing on my inhale. Lengthening my exhale. It wasn’t about performance or technique. It was simply about mindfulness. About being willing to stop worrying about everything for a moment and just be with myself.

And it was precisely in that simplicity that the biggest changes began to take place.

My body gradually calmed down. The tension I hadn’t even noticed for a long time began to ease. My thoughts slowed down. And I started to notice more clearly what I truly needed. Where I was pushing my limits. Where I wasn’t listening to myself.

Gradually, I came to understand that breathing isn’t something that just “works” automatically. It is a way to return. To the present. To the body. To myself.

It was this journey that ultimately led me to the Buteyko Method and my work as a healthy breathing facilitator. I began to perceive breath not only intuitively, but also in a broader context—as something that influences our energy, psyche, sleep, stress, and overall health.

We all have our breath with us at all times. And yet most of us pay it almost no attention. But the way we breathe affects us far more than we realize.

Whether we’re calm or under pressure. Whether we have energy or are chronically exhausted. Whether our body is recovering or remains under stress.

In moments of tension, our breath is often the first sign that something is happening. And at the same time, it’s the first place we can return to. Not to be “better.” But to reconnect with ourselves.

And it was precisely this connection that gradually began to change everything else.

Nutrition stopped being about control and started being about care. Naturally, I began choosing foods that benefit the body, not burden it.

Likewise, exercise stopped being a duty or an effort to change something about myself. It became a way to support the body, relax, and feel good in it.

Because when we truly listen to our bodies, we don’t need extremes. We don’t need constant pressure or perfection.

My body isn’t perfect. But it’s mine. And I’m learning to return to it every day anew. In small moments. In those moments when I get lost in performance, stress, or chaos.

All it takes is to pause for a moment. Take a breath. Exhale.

And remind myself that maybe we aren’t looking for home somewhere out there. Maybe we’re just learning to feel it within ourselves again.

Author: Dita Pospíšilová Dvořáková, NLP coach with a therapeutic focus, mentor, and peer consultant

Certificate in the Buteyko Breathing Method (CertBBM)

Photo: Dita Pospíšilová Dvořáková