Here I Go.
As I sat down to write my first blog post ever, I started to think about what I wanted to say; what was the little bit of everyday inspiration that I wanted to share. Here goes… As a Yoga Instructor, I spend a lot of time talking about the breath; when to inhale and exhale, how to inhale and exhale. Often times I will teach breathing exercises to help people connect more deeply to their own breath.
In one particular exercise called retention breath, I ask students to pause once they inhale and hold the inhale for two counts before exhaling and then once they exhale fully to hold for two counts again before they inhale. After several rounds of this type of breath, you learn to surrender a bit to the pauses between the inhales and exhales,…to settle the anxiety of being between a breath, and instead to enjoy that moment…magic happens in the pauses between the inhale and the exhale. That is life, those moments that happen between the here and the there; those little stops along our life journey can offer just as much as the big ones.
I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica with my family. We had a wonderful time and I experienced many of these moments along the way. I would like to share a couple with you.
The first moment was just as the plane began to lift off the runway at Newark Airport. I held my breath for a moment, took in the anxiety of taking my two small children to a foreign country that I had never been to; I absorbed the pending 5 hour flight and subsequent 3 1/2 drive to our destination as I counted and slowly exhaled, I really exhaled. I let it go and found the joy and excitement I was looking for.
Another happened as I was getting clicked into a zipline to speed across an open stretch of rainforest. I looked back at my husband as he snapped the first photo above. I inhaled deeply as I looked at the journey ahead and held my inhale for two counts as the guide gave me a gentle push. As I slid down the metal cord and exhaled deeply I gazed around at the beautiful journey I was on and all I could do was smile. You can’t see my face in the second photo but take my word for it…I was smiling! The moment was fear followed by elation and I felt it all. I truly enjoyed the ride.
The final one I will mention is happening right now. As I complete this, my first blog post, and prepare to hit “publish” I will take a deep inhale and revel in the feeling of anxiety followed by elation, I will exhale slowly, release my fear and here I go!