When Panic Turned to Peace on the Moon
Rea,
When things go wrong, our hearts race and our minds scramble. But sometimes the best response isn’t to speed up—it’s to slow down. This is what astronaut Buzz Aldrin discovered during one of the most dangerous moments in space exploration history.
On July 20, 1969, Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were piloting their spacecraft toward the moon’s surface. They were about to become the first humans to land on another world. Suddenly, warning alarms blared through their cramped cabin. The computer controlling their descent was overloading and crashing. They were 240,000 miles from Earth with limited fuel, and mission control was considering aborting the entire mission.
In that moment, Aldrin had a choice. He could give in to panic, which would cloud his judgment when he needed it most. He could frantically try to fix everything at once, which would be overwhelming. Or he could use the breathing techniques he had practiced during his astronaut training.
Aldrin chose to focus on his breathing. He took slow, deep breaths while carefully working through the problem. While the alarms kept blaring, he broke down the big problem into smaller parts, focusing only on what he could fix right then. As Armstrong piloted, Aldrin watched the systems and talked with mission control.
“We’re go for landing,” Aldrin reported calmly, despite the computer being just 5 seconds away from triggering an automatic abort sequence. His steady breathing helped him stay calm during this scary situation.
The breathing techniques that helped Aldrin stay focused during this crisis weren’t just useful for astronauts. After Apollo 11, NASA made these stress management methods a regular part of astronaut training. These simple methods helped astronauts stay calm and make better decisions during emergencies.
Our minds are like spacecraft—they work best when we keep them calm and focused, especially when alarms are blaring. Just as Aldrin’s breathing techniques helped him land on the moon, taking a moment to breathe can help us navigate our biggest challenges. These same breathing exercises are now central to what we call meditation today. Sometimes the most powerful response to a crisis isn’t to speed up, but to slow down and breathe.
Love, Abba
P.S. Next time you feel overwhelmed before a test or performance, try taking three slow breaths like Buzz Aldrin did. Count to four as you breathe in, hold for one second, then count to four as you breathe out.
