“The breath is the link between the inner and outer experience.”  This link is what we tap into when we focus on the breath.   An ever present and efficient way to bring yourself into the present moment since the mind is a time traveler and the body is always in the here and now.

We have shared before, “breathing in, I calm my body.  Breathing out, I smile.”

Here is another way to deepen this feeling throughout your entire body, therefore experiencing the LINK between the inner and outer experience thoroughly.

Take 10-20 breathes to feel this new sensation:

On your breath IN feel your lower ribs and belly letting go and filling up a balloon within your gut.  This diaphragmatic breathing encourages your belly and below to relax and allow for this air to enter and your organs to shift.  Your diaphragm pushes down causing movement and  ease down to the base of your pelvic floor.  From pelvic floor to ribs you are calm and soft.

On your breath OUT feel your navel and lower abdomen pulling up and in as your pelvic floor pulls in as well.  “Breathing out, I smile.”  This smile, this turning up the corners of the mouth, happens in your body.  A constant toning of the pelvic floor for men and women is available to us with each breath when we become intimately aware of our natural, healthy rhythm and body movement.

Each inhale is a softening.  Each exhale is a smiling, compression squeezing air up and out, toning our deep and lower core as well as our very important pelvic floor.

Photo by Dawn Dabling.   Albuquerque, NM

Make a date with yourself this weekend!  However much time you can afford – even if you’re only looking at 15 minutes.  Use the time to follow any impulse that flows to you.  Don’t question – don’t hesitate – just do. ‘Doing’ may mean following the impulse of sitting quietly or going off on a trail, into town, or some creative inspiration.  Whatever feels good to you in the moment is the idea.  Enjoy what comes!

Post by: Tracy Weaver, Life Coach, EFT Practitioner

Pssssst! Hey! Of course you! Want to learn a magic trick? This one is so simple, you’ll laugh when you hear it. This one tricks you into seeing contrasts differently, which changes the way you think just a little, which gets you to explore your habitual beliefs a little, and before you know it the way you’ve been feeling about life will quietly move up a few notches, which means you could end up a little happier. Not bad for a simple little parlor trick, eh? The best part is, nobody ever needs to know what you’re up to. Okay, here’s how it works.

Whenever you catch yourself saying “or”, try sticking “and” in there instead! Doesn’t sound like much, right? Well, I’m not saying it works every time, but when it does it’ll make you smile, and might change things up for you. Let’s see, some examples:

– We can go out to dinner or we can go out to the movies. -> We can go out to dinner and we can go out to the movies. (There’s that dollar cinema downtown and we can go out for vegetarian tonight, and maybe skip the wine until we get home. Ours is better anyway.)

– We can have burgers or salmon tonight. -> We can have burgers and salmon tonight. (Surf and Turf! I’ll just use half the amount of each. Then tomorrow I can make salmon cakes, and I can use the rest of the burger meat for spaghetti with meat sauce the night after. Wow, I just got the next three dinners solved!)

– I can go to college or do what’s expected and work for the family business. -> I can go to college and make my family happy and work for the family business. (I know I’ve read about people who have done both and still gotten good grades. Helloooo Internet! Who’s already got a blog going about this? Anyway, it’s not like I have to work for them forever. I can sort of gradually segue from the family business into whatever I decide I want to do. Anyway, I’ll be getting paid to help my family. That’s more than a lot of people can say.)

See what I mean? Once you get good at this, try switching “and” in for “but”. It’s a bit more subtle, but can still change the way you think about the contrast. Like this: “I want to write a blog, but I’ve never done anything like that before. -> I want to write a blog and I’ve never done anything like that before. (So what? Hmm, is there a blog about this? How about “Blog Writing For Dummies? Something on YouTube?)

If you want to really go for it, try swapping “can” for “can’t”, “will” for “won’t”, and “Sure!” for “No way!”, just to surprise yourself.

What’s the secret? You’re using inclusion instead of exclusion, that’s all. Have Fun!

-Thank you, Tracy for contributing!

Guided breathing practice to allow presence:

I breathe in, I allow the breath to permeate my body.

I breathe out, I allow the breath to go from this body.

I breathe in, I allow thoughts to slow down and stop.

I breathe out, I allow an open space to fill my mind.

I breathe in, I allow light to fill my being.

I breathe out, I allow light to filter into the space around me.

Repeat until you have surrendered to a quiet mind and relaxed body.

–from A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

Fall is here.  There is a celebration happening all around us.  Nature is bursting with a glow and a pride for it’s abundance, it’s harvest, it’s life!  We are witnessing a season of illumination and joy before a quiet and peaceful rest.  Listen.  Take note.  Sing along and cheer!

Photograph by Cindy Weaver  – Colorado Springs, CO

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright loved to tell the story about a walk he took when he was nine years old, across a snow covered field with his no-nonsense uncle. When they reached the far end of the field, his uncle turned and pointed out his own tracks across the field, straight and true as an arrow’s flight. Then he showed young Frank his tracks, meandering all over the field.

“Notice how you wander from the fence to the cattle to the woods, and back again,” said his uncle, “and see how my tracks aim directly at my goal. There’s an important lesson in that.”

Years later, the world famous architect related how that experience had greatly contributed to his philosophy about life. “I determined right then and there,” he said, “to not miss out on most things in life, as my uncle had.”