BREATHE

STATIC

(With thanks to Libby for reminding me)

               

We lived in a house where electricity was an afterthought. Thick snakes of grey and black speckled, cloth-wrapped wire stretched up one wall and across the ceiling to dangle a light bulb from the center of the room. We turned the light on and off with a pull chain, lengthened with a piece of twine.

                One of our few diversions was radio, and the dial had to be just so or radio buzz would distort the message and the words would slip in and out of our hearing.

                Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and the static in my thoughts is just like that old radio buzz. Some people call this the Psychic hour, but the truth is, a lot of what comes during those times is not anything we need to hear. A lot of it is mind static, things we said or didn’t say, money we spent, money we owe, wrongs we’ve been done or a myriad of maybes and what ifs.

                Behind all that, there are real KNOWINGS, and for once, the day has gotten quiet enough for us to pay attention. But first we have to tune the dial a little closer, adjust the antennae and stand just so to get the message straight.

                So… Take a deep breath. Begin to relax. Begin at your toes, curl them forward and then backward and then relax them. Next your lower legs; tense the muscles and then relax … keep going all the way to your face, including your face, the top of your head (yes you can) and then your arms. You have to tense your muscles before you can relax them; otherwise you’re holding tension without realizing it. Feel what tense is and then you can relieve it.

                Breathe. Inhale 1,2,3,4. Belly-breathe, feel your belly rise with the breath, then bring that breath up into the chest cavity (which will raise your shoulders). Follow the breath into your body and through, filling you with life, with ond, with light and then leaving, taking with it everything that is not life, everything that reduces you in any way. Let it go. It’s not for you. Your life is good. Claim what is good, what is pure, what is true. Release the rest on an outward breath.

Let your belly rise and fall with your breath. Inhale 1,2,3,4 and hold the breath in for 2 counts and exhale 1,2,3,4 and hold the breath out for two counts. Keep this rhythm going. When static thoughts arise, let them go, watch them go. Continue to breathe.

               

Think of a question, of something you need to know. Or a statement, a something which you want to obtain (stronger will power, more courage), make it into a sentence (positive only). Hone that sentence to a phrase. Center that phrase on the one word that holds the meaning. Repeat this word in your mind to the in breath (1,2,3,4) and the outbreath (1,2,3,4).

                This whole process will cause you to relax and you may sleep. When you wake the next morning, the answer or the accomplishment will be yours. If the answer is something that evolves more slowly, repeat again the next night/morning until you see progress.