breath

In school we learned that when we breathe, the air goes in to our lungs, fills them up, then goes out, which is true.  What is also true is that it doesn't stop there.  Our whole bodies can fill up like a little balloon with every breath we take and then on the outbreath, we can let go of just a little tension.  Every single time.

Our bodies are about 70% water, right?  That water can flow freely around the bones in our bodies and the other minerals that make us up move freely floating in the ocean that each one of us is.  If you've ever watched waves crash around the legs of a pier or a boardwalk, or seen a river bouncing over stones, you know that water can always move and flow.  

So every time you take a breath, you have the option of thinking about your body as one little water balloon.  Just like when you blow a little air into the top of a water balloon the whole balloon stretches on all sides, when our lungs fill up with air that fullness spreads out to our head, toes, and fingertips.  Then when we breathe out we can feel release of tension all over our bodies.

We are always accumulating tension in our bodies, and that's why we are made to continuously let it go.  Since each breath fills us up completely, we can find the areas where it is difficult for the breath to move through, push gently against it, then let go when we breathe out.

Tension then release.  Our bodies love it.  You know that feeling after a sneeze or after you go to the bathroom when you really needed to go?  Even the feeling after a tight squeeze of a hug.  There are other obvious examples of tension and release in our system.  Total surrender.  Every breath is an opportunity to let go that much.  

Take a long, slow breath and feel it move past your hips, knees, and ankles down to your toes. Then let actively let it go.  Another breath fills up your rib cage, chest, and shoulders then moves down your arms.  Let go.  The third moves up and allows your whole neck, jaw, face, and skull to loosen in the subtlest way.  Release.  If we were brilliant we could do this in all three directions every time.  Since we are human we practice and trust our bodies to do it for us.

We breathe.  Nature provides the release.