Breathe Into "It"!

"Breathe-intransitive verb:  To move air in and out of your lungs: to inhale and exhale"   Definition by Meriam-Webster

"Breathe-verb:  To move fresh air to  all parts of the body and exhale stale stuck air from all parts of the body AND during conscious breathing an opportunity to image/visualize what ever you want!" Definition by AnneMary Schram

I was introduced to yoga about seven years ago and have been practicing (and not practicing) ever since.  For the last five months I have committed to a regular practice about four times a week.  I must say it is becoming an integral part of my life that I love.  There are so many benefits...stress reduction, acceptance, relaxation, strength building, reduces depression, better/longer sleep, meditative, supportive community, better health, body love (more focus on how my body feels and what it CAN do as opposed to how it looks), more flexible (physically and mentally) and many more.  Maybe you are thinking "Wow, I should try it!"  To which I say an emphatic "YES!" but that is not my whole purpose here today.  Today I want to talk about an AH-HA moment I had in a class recently.

As they often do, the yogi (teacher) said "Breathe into your left hip...breathe into your right toe." The skeptic in me said (like it always had) "Yea, right..like it's possible to get a breath into that part of my body.  Breath only goes into/out of the lungs."  Not being very scientific, I had never really thought about breath circulating around the entire body but it makes sense when I think about it now (duh).  Anyway...at that moment I closed my eyes, dropped the negative disbelieving voice, tried it AND it worked!  I swear I could feel the breath in the areas I was breathing into and I could "see" (with my eyes closed) each part of my body expand with breath just as I had seen my chest and belly do.  It was exhilarating.   In that moment something I never though could happen happened.. when I just breathed into "it"..."it" happened.  Also I felt like I had discovered some neat new "party trick"...I could image my next cocktail party "Hey, check this out..watch my knee cap breathe!"  BTW this new revelation has given me the courage to move my yoga mat front and (almost) center.

Yogis talk about breath being life and when you get it to all parts of your body, you loosen up the organs, you expel bad air (I just couldn't type bad breath),  and you get more energy.  Wow more benefits of yoga.  Then it hit me... AH-HA..What if I just breathed into "it" when ever I wanted (IE when I feel fear, held back, stuck).  An opportunity to test this out came fast. I was going to a meeting and I was nervous...I was feeling fear...honestly I almost canceled...and then I remembered breathe into "it".  I closed my eyes and breathed into the fear and uncertainty.  I visualized the meeting and how I wanted to show up for it..how I wanted to BE.  The breath calmed me down and the vision gave me a plan exactly what to do to achieve what I wanted.  The meeting went great and I was a happy camper.

Now not only can I breathe into any body part, I can breathe into "it" (whatever "it" might be)...talk about a new "party trick"!  So next time you are feeling stressed, fear, uncertainty, confusion...try it:

Go inside yourself

Close your eyes

Breathe into "it"

Vision what you want/how you want to BE

I'd love to hear your experiences!