Peaceful You

Modern Life: A series of events we struggle to get to, rush to finish, and despair of ever completing. Our frenzy feeds on competition as we race to see who can accomplish the most without actually having to be checked into the hospital for nervous exhaustion!

Let's change this scenario; shift, dream, visualize, wonder, wish:

In the midst of Life’s hullaballoo, you are an oasis of calm. You see the busyness surrounding you, but you are not caught up in the whirlpool. You are able to think, to respond, and to act from a space of quiet thought and wisdom.

Does this even seem possible? Can you imagine yourself calm while all around you rushes and strains? Try it out. Find your Peaceful Breath and breathe it. Even if your moment of calm lasts for half of one breath, that is enough for a start. 

Breathe again. and again. and again. Funny how something you do unconsciously and constantly can take on a new timbre when you become aware of it. Watch your breath flow; listen to it, feel it. 

Become an oasis of calm for a moment. 

Peace.

Peaceful Breath

The first time I sat in a yoga class, legs crossed on a sticky mat, and was told to breathe, I couldn’t resist opening one eye to see what the others were doing. Duh, I’ve been breathing my whole life, so what was the deal with breathing in this class?

Then more direction came from the teacher. I followed along, filling my body from seat to crown with air, then emptying out. It was both calming and energizing. As time passed, I learned that I was not only inhaling air, but also prana, or life force energy. I was not just filling my lungs, but my entire being. Each exhale was a release of whatever I had no use for at that moment; but if I changed my mind I could just breathe it back in, no questions asked!

Oh, yeah, in that first yoga class we learned some poses, too. That was fun.

The &*!#$% Scenic Route Again

I was driving with my daughter recently, and twice I uttered an expletive (I know! I could hardly believe it myself!).  The second time I added some mutterings about being mad at myself for being so absentminded and stupid.  My lovely child looked at me and said, "Mom, it's not like you to talk bad abut yourself."  So I took a deep breath, and stopped talking. It would have been nice if I'd been able to give myself a pep talk, but it had been one of those days and saying nothing seemed the best course.

We all have "those days", when nothing you do turns out the way you want it to, or when it seems like everything you touch turns to lead instead of gold.  I was lucky someone who loved me was around to pull me up short and remind me that trash-talking myself would not make anything better. So often we continue to berate ourselves until we've dug ourselves in so deep it's hard to climb up again, and we begin to believe our own negative propaganda.

I should listen to my own advice more often, because I am famous in my house for saying things like, "Sweetie, you can do that mad or you can do it happy." It's so easy to moan and kvetch about something or someone, but that just drags you down into a ditch, and it gets damp and lonely in there. Be your own best friend and remind yourself that you are great, and terrific, and even though you make mistakes, you are still perfect. Because if being perfect meant never making mistakes, perfection would be undesirable -- after all, making mistakes, taking missteps, and trying new things are what teach us, and we all want to continue to learn.

So I will continue to learn that even though I forget where I'm going and have to make several u-turns on the road, I am gaining knowledge about the byways and seeing neighborhoods I never knew existed.  The scenic route! Perfect.

Don't Push It, Follow It!

The popular perception of yoga is that it’s a good stretch.  Or that yogis sit around twisted like pretzels. Oh, and the magazine ads with the young women in midriff baring tops and tight shorts?  You have to go to a Level 3 class in NYC or LA to find a room full of them! Yoga is a good stretch, and yogis do twist around a lot, and if my top is too loose it will fall over my head in adho mukha and reveal way more than anyone bargained for.  But the best thing about yoga is that it improves more than your muscle tone.

This is yoga . . . 

What yoga has over other forms of exercise is this:  Yoga connects your body to your mind. When’s the last time you thought about your shoulder blades?  Or the way your weight settles into the soles of your feet? If you listen, your body reveals all sorts of secrets. What hurts, where, how and why? Side angle pose is better at telling me I’ve gained a few pounds than any scale, because when I lean sideways over my thigh, I can feel anything “extra”.  No judgment, though, because a couple of pounds up or down, I can still rock the parsva!

I also like that you can’t try too hard with yoga.  If you push a pose, your face will start to scrunch and an attentive teacher will remind you to breathe.  Slow, even breathing insists on safe, appropriate movements.  Surprisingly, you will go further by following your breath than by pushing your body.

. . . and this is yoga.

In essence, yoga is the union of breath and movement.  Once you get this concept, almost anything can be yoga (except maybe the step machine at the gym.  That’s just craziness).  Hiking a trail becomes step, breath, step, breath. Swimming forces you to breathe with your movement because you have to time your breaths with your strokes. Running warm-ups and cool-downs share many postures with yoga, and doing them with intent rather than by rote will add an unexpected note of serenity to your running session.

Go ahead, try yoga.  You’ll get a good stretch. You’ll make a few pretzel shapes.  You’ll breathe.  You’ll love it.

Time's a'Wasting!

Someone recently asked me to do something because she didn’t have time to do one more thing.  Her calendar was full and her stress level was building.  I had the feeling she thought that since I didn’t clock in at an office every day, I had loads of time.  I said yes and did the task right away so I wouldn’t have to think about it.  It ended up taking me about an hour, and I learned a new computer skill along the way.  Time well spent.

No one has enough time.  There is no such thing as spare time.  We have to make a concerted effort to afford ourselves some leisure time.  Time is speeding up and we are racing to keep pace.  The clock is ticking!

Holy Minute Hand, Batman!  Let’s use one of our precious moments to take a deep breath.  I’m about to give you an early Christmas present:  You have enough time.  Take a look at your yesterday.  You had a list of things to do and you got some of them done.  Or you got all of them done.  Or you got none of them done.  But the time was there for your use, in any way you chose.  If you didn’t vacuum the house because your neighbor dropped by for a cup of tea, you had time for your neighbor.  If you accomplished every task on your list then dropped exhausted on the couch in the evening, there was time for that, too. 

Time may be limited, but every second is there for the taking.  And there is enough.  Take the time to help your neighbor.  Take the time for a quick nap.  Yes, there are deadlines and while you can always vacuum tomorrow, you still have to get your kids fed and to the practice field on time tonight; but don’t make Time your enemy.  Get to work on time and don’t waste time (is that even possible?) and take your time.  And breathe and smile and check off your list.  Or not.

I just had them . . .

So, a woman walks into the living room. She stops, looks around, and leaves. Ten seconds later she strides back in, eyes focused on her objective – reading glasses.  She puts them on, pushes them up on top of her head, and walks back out, a satisfied smile on her face.  She enters the dining room and sits at the table, newspaper spread out in front of her.  She looks around, frowning. Now where are those d**n reading glasses?

Sound familiar?  No, it’s not age causing these moments of forgetfulness, it’s a brain filled to bursting with tasks, calendars, laundry, and dinner needing to be made – not to mention that rather strange comment left by a friend on your Facebook post.  What did she mean by that, anyway?

Too much activity in the brain, and something has to give; something has to move to the back of the line.  I could suggest you eliminate some of your activities, but who am I kidding – except for the laundry, you enjoy your busy life.  So how about this experiment:  As you move from one activity to the next, take one full, deep, mindful breath. Like when you get in the car.  Inhale, exhale; drive.  When you sit in front of the computer, breathe in deeply, let it out, then wake up the monitor.  Before opening the fridge to take out the pork chops, take a huge lungful of air.  Instead of each event fighting it out for your attention, a mindful separation of tasks may help your brain sort things out peacefully.

Now, take a slow, deep breath, then go to the drugstore and buy a chain for your reading glasses.  It’s fashionable, I swear!

Breathing deeply between a hike and dinner.  Ahhhh....

Bounty

This morning I was writing a small donation check to a local charity that feeds people.  I’m especially drawn to give to food banks and soup kitchens, probably because I can’t imagine not having enough to eat!  In the envelope were two small cards, and the donor was encouraged to write a few words of blessing to those who would receive the benefit of the donation.  So I took a deep breath and wrote, “Blessings for your continued abundance” -- then I stopped short.  Shoot, did I just wreck this card?  Why did I write “continued” abundance, when I am sending this check for people who have very little?  I should have just wished them abundance, plain and simple. 

I took another deep breath.  I hadn’t made a mistake.  I wish for those people an abundance of continued health, continued joy, an abundance of support from the community, platesful of warm food, and scads of love from wherever in the Universe it might continue to come to them.  A veritable cornucopia of wonderful things, in abundance.  And hey, if there’s some cash in there, too, all the better!

I wish for you continued abundance in your life as well.  Joy, health, love and support.  Wisdom, caring, happiness.  Gratitude, humility, and generosity.  And cash.

Breathe Away Annoyance

Think of those trivial events that pester you during a normal day, the things that cause you to give a little huff of annoyance.  Like the lady in front of you at the store who is sure she has a penny somewhere in the bottom of her purse.   Or the child who insists on zipping his own jacket when you’re in a hurry.  Even the toaster that takes too long to pop out your breakfast.  I’ve discovered something about these things:  They are often resolved in the space of one or two long, deep breaths.

Try it.  Use your ujjayi if you have it*. Maybe the two-year-old and his zipper need three breaths, and make ‘em long and deep.  Result:  You’ve taken a nourishing lungful of fresh oxygen and energizing prana, you’ve avoided sending bad vibes through your system, and you have saved yourself a moment of unnecessary stress! Mindful breathing will relax your body and mind, and not only will you feel better at the end of the day, but so will everyone else around you – I can practically see those waves of calm emanating from you already!

Om shanti. Peace.

*See yogajournal.com for a description of the ujjayi breath; better yet, come to one of my classes and I’ll teach it to you!