Hello Beautiful Soul,
This week I have a little something for you that could be considered as a relaxation practice, a meditation practice, or both. It's up to you. This is an easy practice that you can do in a very short amount of time or you could spend a lot of time with this exercise. That is also up to you. So let's get into it. It is quite simple really. It starts with an inhale as you say within your mind;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
Let's try that again.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
Now this is a certain kind of awareness. It is not a surface level of awareness that you are merely aware of, yes I have a body. This is a much deeper awareness. Deep awareness requires deep honesty so that you can see yourself fully and clearly, in this case your body, in its entirety without judgement, without criticisms, without regrets. Just a clean, clear awareness of what your body actually is in this moment with all of its glorious workings and complicated systems and also the things that you might perceive as flaws. To be able to take all of that fully into your awareness with acceptance - honesty and acceptance - is a deep awareness. As I said, it goes much further, much deeper, than merely; “Oh yeah, I have a body.”
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body.”
You feel the sensations in your body. You feel the parts that might be achy or sore. You feel the parts that might feel relaxed or easy.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
Now we will take it a little further and do the same thing with the mind.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I relax.”
The implication here, although not restricted to, but the implication here is that when we are focusing on the body we feel that the body is relaxing. When we focus on the mind, we feel that we are relaxing the mind. But we are not saying, “I relax the mind” because I would like it to be more inclusive than that.
Just, “I relax.”
Every part of you relaxes, but yes, we are specifically, in this one, focusing on the mind. So maybe starting with relaxation of the mind but then allowing that relaxation to expand into the body and, as you will see, in some other areas as well.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I relax.”
Again, it's an honest awareness, a complete awareness, in which you can see all of the many aspects of your mind as clearly as possible in this moment, and be ok with it. Be ok with what might be the chaos or what might be the dullness if you are feeling sleepy or fatigued in the mind. Whatever it is - the activity, the chaos, the lethargy, the spark, the joy - whatever is in there. The interest, the energy, everything! Many things, I am sure, are there. Take it all into your awareness and relax. It is a deep acceptance, not just of your mind and body, but of this moment. It is truly helping you to connect deeply with this moment and to be able to accept and relax in this moment.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I relax.”
It is as simple as that. You may also take it further into other aspects of, let's say, your body. Let’s say you do have a specific concern, ailment, or injury that you are very aware of when you focus on your body. Let’s say maybe your hip. Maybe you have some achiness in your hip.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my hip. Breathing out, I relax.”
You say, “Breathing out I relax” as an intention. Maybe your hip doesn’t feel that relaxed but you say it like it is an intention. You say it like it is real and it is true; “Breathing out, I relax.”
“Breathing in, I am aware of my feet. Breathing out, I relax.”
You could go through an entire body scan from the top of your head, down to your feet, one part at a time in a reclined position. Each time your awareness comes to a different part of your body;
“Breathing in, I am aware of {this part}. Breathing out, I relax.”
That in itself would be a beautiful practice of meditation and acceptance and also, very likely, be a cure for sleeplessness as well. If you have trouble falling asleep, that type of body scan would be very beneficial.
You can also expand this more into your mind. It is a great way to help you deal with emotions because when you pause, in your awareness, you are delaying your reaction and that is the best thing that you can do. It gives you a chance to shift your energy. It gives you a chance to make a loving choice regarding if, and how, you want to respond.
For example;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my irritation. Breathing out, I relax.”
It's just relax. You are not setting the expectation that you must release that irritation on the exhale. (If you happen to, fantastic! You don’t want to hold on to that anyway.) Don't even have that expectation. There are no expectations and no demands, just awareness and relaxation. Awareness and relaxation.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my sadness. Breathing out, I relax.”
In this moment it is just acceptance. You are not trying to transform that sadness into joy, or into anything else. You are not trying to erase it or eliminate it. You’re just aware, and you relax. And you will find, you will definitely find that, in the relaxation, in the exhale, in the intention of relaxation, a lot will actually be released. But don’t approach it with the idea that you are trying to eliminate anything. It is just awareness and relaxation, and it feels so good. So I encourage you to do this with your body as a whole or in part, and with your mind as a whole or in part.
Just that one moment, when you get into your car, and right before you get out of your car.
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
That one minute - it’s not even a minute! - that one cluster of 10 seconds is enough to bring a little more lightness to your day, to your mind, and a little more peace in your day, and in your moments.
Do it whenever you are about to step into a new portion of your day. For example, when you sit down to breakfast, before you eat,
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
If you do that throughout your day then it becomes habitual. It's just that one breath. You breathe in. You breathe out. One breath. However long that takes is not very long. One breath. And if you continue to do that it becomes a habit. It becomes something that you go to easily. Then, when you are in a situation where you are feeling some negative emotions stirring up, it is already your habit to pause. That pause is the Magic Zone! That pause is where you make new choices. You move in new directions in that pause. Without that pause you are a habitual robot! You really are. So the pause is everything;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I relax.”
If you repeat it throughout your day - whether you are doing “body” or whether you are doing”mind” - then when that negative emotion arises it will be your habit to say;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my anger. Breathing out, I relax.”
You can do it again. You can repeat it several times if you need to, but it gives you a chance to pause.
Emotions always dissipate if you don’t feed them. Feeding it means, in case you haven’t heard this expression before, that you keep going over the situation in your mind and thinking about why you have a right to be angry, what that person did and how wrong it was. All of those thoughts are “feeding” your anger and your anger will continue to survive on that food. But when you don’t feed it, and you pause;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my anger. Breathing out, I relax.”
Then the emotion will dissipate. Take a few more breaths. Don’t feed it. It will disappear. And when it disappears you can handle the situation from a much higher viewpoint, a better perspective, a kinder self. And I am talking about kindness to YOU. Yes, you will also be kinder to whomever you imagine instigated your anger, but it is a kindness to yourself first because you are the one who suffers when you are angry. It is a kindness to yourself because you are laying down a new path, a new habit, for a more positive and peaceful response.
So this exercise, is very simple;
“Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I relax.”
I want you to try it. Maybe try it on your meditation cushion. Maybe try it, as I said, when you sit down to have a meal. Try it throughout your day and see how it feels. You never have to take my word for anything. I want you to try these things and notice how it makes you feel. Yes, it requires a little bit of effort to remember to pause, but a little bit of effort turns into an easy habit after a while.
So give it a try and see how it feels.
Much love,
Jennifer
*This blog is a transcript that was taken from a “Weekly Reflection” video in Yoga Club. Occasionally I make these teachings available to the public so that the souls who are called to our community will be able to find us and know what we are about.
If you found this teaching helpful, consider joining Yoga Club where, in addition to yoga classes, meditation sessions and yoga tutorials, you will receive weekly reflections, like this one, with practical teachings on; creating a more positive mindset, managing emotions, working with the Law of Attraction, and letting your awesome self shine more brightly into this beautiful life ❤ https://beautiful-souls-academy.teachable.com/p/yoga-club