A Sacred Pause
Happy Mindful Monday!
I love Monday mornings because they are the beginning of something new—a chance to begin again. Zen teaches us that we can apply this to every moment. Every moment is an opportunity to begin again, and boy oh boy, do I "begin again" over and over.
In this morning’s Spiritual Espresso class, we discussed the power of the exhale, or as Michiko calls it in Mental Fitness, The Long Breath Out, also known as Zen Breathing. In addition to eliminating impurities and old energy from our system, here are some of the benefits of The Long Breath Out:
• Strengthens the lower abdomen
• Decreases upper body tension
• Clears the mind and helps you relax
• Focuses and directs your energy
Today’s class was about utilizing The Long Breath Out to reset in the moment and come back to your intention. In other words, to begin again.
I invite you to set an intention for the week ahead and use the power of your exhale to come back to that intention whenever you notice you have veered off course. If you are like me, it is likely this will happen often. And that is OK!
When you notice you have turned left when you wanted to make a right, simply pause, exhale, and turn that car around! That’s all there is to it. Bonus points if you smile. One of my favorite sayings is, “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly!”
Remember, daily life is spiritual weight training, and beginning again strengthens our commitment to ourselves to be centered in the moment and return to our intention—to remember who we want to be.
“When we focus on who we are being, the doing takes care of itself.”
Really, the formula is the same no matter what your intention for the week may be. Whether it is to be more present, more peaceful, more focused, more patient, more playful, or more creative, we always center ourselves with our breath and reset when we find that we have veered off course and our actions are no longer aligned with our intention.
Take a sacred pause, exhale, reset, and begin again.
For many of us, life is full on and we may not have huge amounts of time for self-care. On days like this I remember these words from Michiko, “It doesn’t take more time, it takes intention.” There is always time to press pause and get centered in the moment. When we practice this throughout the day we keep on refilling and rather than running on empty we have a steady stream of energy to carry us through.
Let’s activate this FunZen saying together this week:
“I am too blessed to be stressed.”
To learn the inner mechanics of Zen Breathing and start your week centered and stress-free, join me on Monday mornings for a short and bright inner tune-up.