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I know these are only emails, but in making the switch to write these Mindful Pauses every two weeks, I'm aware that I have missed connecting. That's a nice thing to miss! I hope September is off to a good start for everyone. I am excited to get back into some routines myself and being back with my weekly groups this week is part of that. What routines are feeling good to you as September begins?
What has been inspiring me so far this month is quite literally what inspires life in us -- the breath. Inspiration and expiration -- this wonderful mechanism of being alive and one of the guiding tools of meditation. What I'm not going to do is give you breathing exercises or tell you to take more deep breaths. I''m not going to tell you how to breathe "well" or what not to do. What I am interested in is much more subtle and gentle.
There is so much we have to organize and take charge of in life, but the beautiful thing about the breath is that we don't have to organize it or control it. The breath breathes us and we get to follow. What a relief! To not have to be the leader, but simply to follow and trust. The breath is a faithful companion. As long as we are alive, it is there for us to experience. It may change in depth and tempo, but it is there for us to tune into whenever we want. The power of dropping into its rhythm, its current, lies in how it slows us down, makes us more present and steady. If you sense your in-breath and out-breath and stay with it as you do anything, it is likely you will do it differently.
Sometimes the idea of following the breath is misconstrued and it can sound like something bigger than it is. In reality though, it is subtle, just a quiet listening and sensing. My invitation this week is to do what I often say when I give an exercise in A Mindful Life -- find the rhythm of your breathing and let your awareness of it be there in the background. Essentially, be aware of the undercurrent of your breath as you do anything in your daily life. Come in and out of the current throughout the day. Whether you are taking a shower, getting dressed, emptying the dishwasher, driving, working on the computer, etc. Especially tune into it when you are listening to someone and when you are talking. It changes everything because we are more conscious of what we are doing as we do it and we slow down, giving us more space to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. We end up giving other people space and our deeper presence, too.
How do you follow the breath? What helps me is to close my eyes just for a moment so I can listen and I wait. I wait to feel the inhale begin and then feel the exhale and wait again until I feel the next inhale. There is nothing to make happen. I find its song and follow and then go about whatever I am doing still aware of the soft in/out, still aware of the rise and fall. It is actually soothing to follow it, like watching soft waves rolling. I can't keep it non-stop, but I can return as much as I want. If I begin my day with it, I am more likely to revisit it, which is why a morning meditation practice helps me set the tone of the day. Even just a few minutes.
Start simple. Pick one easy task and follow your breath as you do it, then let it go and come back to the breath again with another task you do. Drop in and out of the breath's current and see how it feels over the course of the week to bring more attention to it.
🌻
Jean
What has been inspiring me so far this month is quite literally what inspires life in us -- the breath. Inspiration and expiration -- this wonderful mechanism of being alive and one of the guiding tools of meditation. What I'm not going to do is give you breathing exercises or tell you to take more deep breaths. I''m not going to tell you how to breathe "well" or what not to do. What I am interested in is much more subtle and gentle.
There is so much we have to organize and take charge of in life, but the beautiful thing about the breath is that we don't have to organize it or control it. The breath breathes us and we get to follow. What a relief! To not have to be the leader, but simply to follow and trust. The breath is a faithful companion. As long as we are alive, it is there for us to experience. It may change in depth and tempo, but it is there for us to tune into whenever we want. The power of dropping into its rhythm, its current, lies in how it slows us down, makes us more present and steady. If you sense your in-breath and out-breath and stay with it as you do anything, it is likely you will do it differently.
Sometimes the idea of following the breath is misconstrued and it can sound like something bigger than it is. In reality though, it is subtle, just a quiet listening and sensing. My invitation this week is to do what I often say when I give an exercise in A Mindful Life -- find the rhythm of your breathing and let your awareness of it be there in the background. Essentially, be aware of the undercurrent of your breath as you do anything in your daily life. Come in and out of the current throughout the day. Whether you are taking a shower, getting dressed, emptying the dishwasher, driving, working on the computer, etc. Especially tune into it when you are listening to someone and when you are talking. It changes everything because we are more conscious of what we are doing as we do it and we slow down, giving us more space to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. We end up giving other people space and our deeper presence, too.
How do you follow the breath? What helps me is to close my eyes just for a moment so I can listen and I wait. I wait to feel the inhale begin and then feel the exhale and wait again until I feel the next inhale. There is nothing to make happen. I find its song and follow and then go about whatever I am doing still aware of the soft in/out, still aware of the rise and fall. It is actually soothing to follow it, like watching soft waves rolling. I can't keep it non-stop, but I can return as much as I want. If I begin my day with it, I am more likely to revisit it, which is why a morning meditation practice helps me set the tone of the day. Even just a few minutes.
Start simple. Pick one easy task and follow your breath as you do it, then let it go and come back to the breath again with another task you do. Drop in and out of the breath's current and see how it feels over the course of the week to bring more attention to it.
🌻
Jean
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