Without any effort, I exhale & inhale, on repeat, all day. I have & I will for the rest of my life. But through my yoga, I’ve learned to play with my breath. Join me. Let’s pause. Right here, right now.
Slowly, deeply, consciously, let’s fill up our lungs with breath. Pause, retain. And then with just as much care, exhale all the air out of the lungs. If we repeat this a few times, we will have created a sense of calm. Cause & effect.
Or we can heat it up—sharply exhaling through the nose with each out breath, contracting the sides of the waist — bhastrika. And on & on we go. So many choices. But it is easy to forget because our body doesn’t force us to remember we have the ability to choose.
I can also choose the quality of my mind. The thinking apparatus will continue to do its thing, generating thoughts, some (many!!) of which are neither true nor helpful. So it’s up to me.
I can choose. I can take responsibility. Conscious breath, conscious thought. I can ride the roller coaster that is my mind OR I can choose gratitude, joy, thoughtfulness, again & again. And just like that, the adventure that is my day, is just a little (or a lot) sweeter. Now, doesn’t that sounds nice?
Photo Credit: Beatrice Helman