Originally written in 2022 – in the throes of a purported pandemic – holding one’s breath became the ‘norm’ for a collective drowning in fear and uncertainty. The iron fist of the Overlords was matched by the rhetoric used to ensure compliance to a preferred narrative – flying in the face of evidence available, even then. Today, that ‘intolerable’ alternate narrative has proven itself to be true.
Perhaps – way back then – had we been able to choose the pause, we would have shaped a different reality; not to mention very different consequences.
I’ve adapted the text slightly; and have also added a sound file for the Guided Reflection.
Perhaps it will serve as a reminder to you for YOU to pause… and embrace the discoveries of the long, slow and intentional exhale.
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Pause: interruption in an existing flow
The pause…. at the end of the inhalation, just before we transition to an exhalation. It becomes the curve… the place where we transform from one existing state to another; from drawing in to releasing out.
For several years, we have been pressed into a constant inhale. Pressed to be on high-alert; pressed to continuously breathe in the rhetoric… the narrative… the data… the party line.
For several years, we have been pressured to inhale and hold… and then inhale some more…. feeling the growing pressure inside our bodies – close to the edge of bursting or worse, exploding! – as a way to find some relief from the constant trek to a destination that now seems even further and further removed.
Everything is a metaphor for everything else. Our lives become the metaphor that reveals to us our network of beliefs, values and attitudes; and the impact of the choices we make on the structure of our reality.
The most fundamental requirement for any human being to exist is breath. We must breathe…. in the rhythm of inhaling and exhaling on a regular cycle… just to stay alive. It is not sufficient to only do half of that cycle; to only inhale and never exhale or exhale and never inhale. In such a state, we would quickly die. It is the rhythm… the complete cycle… that is essential to our very existence.
For several years, we have been pressed into attempting to live our lives from only half the cycle: the half that has us constantly on inhale… absorbing the information that is overwhelming our ability to choose; being force-fed such massive waves of that which is to be inhaled that we believe that we must inhale or be overcome with…. suffocated by… that which is washing over us.
For years, we have been forbidden from creating a pause for ourselves… that still-point between cycles in the rhythm of our existence… that we might mindfully consider that which we are being pressed to inhale and hold. The bottom line is: keep the pressure on so it becomes impossible to pause.
In the pause… in that point on the curvature of the rhythm of the full cycle…. is the power of choice. In the Space of that pause lives the power to choose to simply stop… and allow ourselves to experience the internal signals that are raging relative to the press to inhale.
If we pause…. if we dare to pause!…. we may begin to notice that we are exhausted by the constant agitation of inhaling more than our body can comfortably tolerate. We may begin to notice that we have questions… that we wonder about things… and that our attention is drawn beyond the rhetoric and the obligatory narrative.
‘Frenzy’ has never been a solution to anything. A frenzied body from being constantly on inhale leads to a frenzied and chaotic mind. The constant press is essential to maintain that state of chaotic mind to ensure that we do not pause… and breathe deeply into our own intuitive sense of all that is unfolding… for fear that we may become less fearful, less chaotic and less compliant with the external demands of what passes for leadership of our country.
Perhaps, in this moment, we are being given the opportunity to notice that leadership is an inside job. That leadership becomes a collective reflection of an internal truth when we allow ourselves to pause… long enough… for our own body to stop vibrating to the constant press to absorb yet more ‘frenzy’ from the voices of those ‘charged’ with ensuring our safety.
In the face of it all, my invitation to you?
Stop!
Just… stop….
Turn everything off. Your phone…. tv…. laptop… desktop… wrist-top…. all of it.
Find a comfortable chair… and sit…..
Take three long, slow, deep breaths….
Focus on the exhale… allowing your breath to completely leave your body… causing a much deeper inhale… and hold at the top of the inhale…
Close your eyes…. and….
Listen… to the beating of your heart…. to the sounds inside you… to the chatter in your head… and the plea of your body to rest…..
Notice how your body feels… where your muscles are clenched and tight….
Notice the stress in your jaw… your neck…. the back of your head…. your brow…. your eyes…. your buttocks… belly… feet….
And ask yourself: what do I need? Right here… right now… in this moment…. what do I need?
Ask yourself: am I willing to give myself what I need?
Consider this process for yourself at least once a day and more, if you’re willing to really know what is driving your bus! It is not your intellect that will save you from your habituation and conditioning – it is your body. All you have to do is pay attention.
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