Rabbi Nachman teaches,
If you want to return to G-d you must make yourself into a new creation. You can do this with a sigh!
Man never stops breathing – releasing the stale air and drawing in fresh air. Our very lives depend on this. The physical air we breathe has its root above. There is the good air of the Tzaddik and the evil air of the sinner. The Tzaddik constantly draws air from the holy, the sinner draws air from impurity.
Therefore, when a person wants to repent, he must make sure to stop the bad air from coming into him. The way to do this is with a sigh, which is a long, deep breath in and out. The sigh begins when you draw in extra air. This is similar to what happens just before a person dies: he draws in extra air and then the spirit leaves him. Every exhalation is the death of the moment that has passed, in preparation for the birth of the new moment. Thus when you take a deep sigh, you release yourself from the bad air of the sinner and bind yourself to the pure air of the Tzaddik in order to receive new vitality.
This is Teshuvah, returning from impurity to holiness in order to gain new life. The very body is renewed, because “Sighing breaks a person’s whole body” ( Berachot 58b), and therefore the body is remade.
Chayey Moharan #37
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