Breath Core of Practice: Breathe Into It

This morning I woke with an angry kink in my neck. Movement created pain and spasticity from the top of my right shoulder to my ear. It happens- I slept wrong. I thought about getting pissy about it but realized that's going to help nothing except ruin my day so instead I decided to welcome this growl, invite it into my day and be present with it sending it loving kindness every time it shrieked at me. I will breathe into it.

Breath is amazing! I find my breath can carry me through most anything- good, bad and any where in between. All day today I was reminded to take care of my pain in the neck. I'd stretch and breathe (note: there was not a large range of motion happening for a few hours) into the painful area until it began to ease and I was able to move a bit more. On the bus to an appointment, I stretched by tilting my chin up, down, sideways and breathed until it eased a bit. I was breathing into it.

Then I missed my bus transfer for my appointment and was stuck downtown without an alternate route. I, again, thought about getting pissy but realized that's going to help nothing except ruin my day so instead I decided to welcome this growl, invite it into my day and be present with it sending it loving kindness every time it shrieked at me. I decided to find a quiet spot and do my appointment over the phone. I breathed into it.

Then during the phone call my phone kept breaking up so we couldn't continue and had to reschedule anyways. I ended up sitting there momentarily feeling defeated, achy and pissy but realized I had the whole afternoon to myself regardless so instead, again, I decided to welcome this growl, invite it into my day and be present with it sending it loving kindness every time it shrieked at me. I breathed into it. 

This cycle of choice continued for several hours as I lost my phone and wandered downtown retracing steps to eventually find it in a bathroom stall waiting for me. I could feel my body and mind getting worked up, frustrated, becoming the growl itself but each time it rose I smoothed my breath, imagined breathing into it and regained my peace of mind.

In asana class- I often ask students to become aware of the area where they feel the stretch and to imagine as if they can breathe into that area. To imagine the expansion of the inhale filling and expanding that area and to imagine the release of the exhale softening and relaxing that area. "Breathing into it" is something we can do with emotion, sensation, frustration, over-abundance, stress, asana and more. If we breathe into it- we bring our attention to whatever it is, we bring our breath to a smooth steady place and imagine breathing into it and easing, releasing and smoothing the challenge.  Some people say Lean Into It- I say Breathe Into It!

Personal Yoga Practice builds Core Strength. The very heart of your Being. Core strength to weather any storm, to stand firm when others may bring you down, to remain pure at heart and in spirit regardless of what anyone else says, does or believes about you.

Rock Your Practice! 

^o^

Gentle Reminder- Download the Body Scan Meditation to practice any time and subscribe with i-Tunes for new Yoga Empowered Podcasts!