Just Breathe!

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Addiction, Aha, Attachment, Attention, Behavior, Change, Control, Defend, Distractions, Ego, Emotion, Energy, fear, Growth, inattention, Instinct, Judge, Meditation, obstacle, Primitive, Responsibility, Rhythm, Unknown

Pranayama ~ The science of breath which leads to the creation, distribution, and maintenance of vital energy.”  ~ BKS Iyengar

Over the course of my life I’ve noticed I have moments when I can’t get a complete breath, or cycle of a yawn.  The sensation of a heaviness sitting on my chest, it happens in times when I seem stressed and unable to keep focused.  Ironic!  This recently came up as I’ve been doing some Energy Work and working on my past by delving into areas to heal.

So, I realize many of us don’t take time to tune into our breath as we move throughout our daily life but it is what keeps us alive ~ it is the LIFE FORCE! 

If you’re one who actively meditates, does yoga, runs, or does any sort of exercise activity, you’ve probably noticed how important it is to pace your breath in order to continue with your activity.  Well, it’s just as important in all of our daily activities.  As an avid yogini, student and teacher, my focus during a practice is to move with the breath.  Just as when I meditate, it’s about tuning-in, connecting with the breath and going within.  But, this doesn’t always seem to continue outside of the studio.

I see how far I’ve evolved to being more patient and kinder to myself and I also recognize this is a constant awareness we need to tap into.  I no longer choose to allow things that once upset me to steal my breath, energy, or focus.  I do admit it took a lot of attention to the breath, personal curiosity, a desire to change my life, research and reading, speaking with others, and becoming more aware of old thought and behavioral patterns.  All of this required taking personal responsibility and acknowledging what I was manifesting in my life!

It is a lot of work but more importantly, I believe if you can start by becoming more aware of your breath, you will eventually start to recognize your thought patterns, which distract from slow, steady breathing.  If the breath flows smoothly, so does everything else in life!

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• Do you have trouble breathing or breathing problems?
• Do you pay attention to when you are holding your breath? Do you see the root cause of this? 
• Do you have trust in your own judgement?
• When you’re in a moment of crisis or stress, do you have a fight or flight reaction?  Do you allow yourself to step back and take a deep breath before you evaluate the situation or do you pounce on it with impervious fervor?
• What really gets under your skin and why do you let it steal your breath, energy, attention?
• When do you find yourself the most calm breathing in and out long, steady, and controlled breaths?
• Do you see how you may be able to be more focused?
• Do you have faith that everything will work out in the end?

“In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.”
~ Albert Einstein

When it all comes down to it, the breath is your life force and without it, you cannot live.  How your breath moves in and through your body is a directly reflected in your life.  How does your life flow – like mud, a rambling brook, or a smooth flowing river?  Look at how your life is and then key into if you’re actually breathing through it!  Are you engaged or are you going through habitual motions?  Tune-in, become aware of your inner world and how it’s reflected in the breath.

I wish you happy days filled with joy, laughter, & deep belly breathing!

Choose wisely where you place your attention/focus because your energy is precious and shouldn’t be wasted!

Love and Light Blessings,

~ Lana

What is your Fear?

Tags

Attachment, Attention, Change, Defend, Disappointment, Emotion, Energy, Expectation, Failure, fear, God, Growth, Heart, Illusion, Instinct, Judge, Love, Meditation, Perfectionism

I had intended to write up a New Year’s entry but upon reflection, well, it didn’t happen.  I must admit, this year I didn’t feel the need, nor obligation, to write any resolutions.  I’ve done it before and, honestly, I find it more important to live this year with less expectation and more detachment, from a place of Love and with Integrity, allowing my life to flow freely wherever the winds take me as I’m in a serious stage of transition and I don’t know yet where I will arrive!  Actually, that’s pretty exciting…

Throughout the past few days the recurring theme has been about “expectations creating disappointment.” 

Today in meditation I was faced with my own fears!  I have always known one of my downfalls was my perfectionism and, in the past this held me back from trying new things for fear of not getting them exactly right.  Even as a child in school, I would write down my notes word-for-word to ensure I knew the exact answer the teacher wanted.  I was even so meticulous that if I wrote with pen and made a mistake, I would start over writing them neatly because I didn’t like a mess.  I was the child who was always cleaning and organizing her room!

See, here we are, [I am], again ~ at those illusions and expectations we conceive an outcome of which, an action hasn’t even been set in motion nor has it occurred!

Ok, so, as I understand that I have a fear of failure, underlying with that pesky Perfectionism, I know I need to hold myself accountable for expectations that do NOT exist.  If I don’t even try, how can I be so sure I’ll fail!?  Even if I do fail, I may find myself heading down a new path or I may learn something new!  Why is this so difficult?

Well, this goes back to where we/I learned the underlying source.  It stems from a number of things – some from school and some from home.  Heck, I even remember how I colored (maybe I still do), tracing the lines with my crayon before coloring in the pictures.  Mom taught me this, I believe.  The idea that if you traced it out first, you had a better chance of “not going outside the lines!”
It did seem to work.

Here is where I resolve to hold myself accountable and what came through in my meditation:

What is my Weakness here?  Lack of Trust in Self!

So, I choose Happiness!  I choose Love Over ALL!

“Love Encompasses patience ~ it’s passion, it’s compassion, it doesn’t need to be perfect and it occurs always in its perfect time!

Love Embraces ~ it accepts ALL pains, hurts, and sufferings!

Love is in ALL ~ it illuminates, it shines, and it uplifts!

I AM LOVE!

YOU ARE LOVE!

If God is Love, we’re all of God~Love connected eternally by this internal flame!

I am Grateful for Love because it’s what takes me out of my head and into my Heart!”

So what evokes Fear in YOU?  Will you resolve to choose love over it?

Love and Light Blessings,

~ Lana

Distractions ~ “Energy Flows Where Attention Goes!”

Tags

Addiction, Aha, Attachment, Attention, Behavior, Change, Control, Defend, Distractions, Ego, Emotion, Energy, fear, Growth, inattention, Instinct, Judge, Meditation, obstacle, Primitive, Responsibility, Rhythm, Unknown

In continuing with the themes of the past couple days, I was paying closer attention to my distractions during my meditations.  I had also noticed how it spilled over into my living waking life ~ kind of like one of those AHA Moments!

There are distractions all around.  Some are external noises or theatrical displays, while some are situations occurring in and around our lives with others we associate with; but then, there are those we create ourselves.  The latter are usually the ones you could also call the story we create.  What does that mean?  Well, let’s look at this closer.

What are distractions, really?

Well, a distraction takes our “attention” away from what is right in front of us that needs tending ~ what needs our attention!  A distraction is avoiding responsibility and,  ultimately, what we are afraid to face ~> an underlying fear.  Distractions may start out innocently enough but then, there are times when they become so addictive we fall short of our unmet responsibilities creating havoc in our lives.  

I had to stop to search to see if I could find a clear definition of what distraction really is.  The closest I could find was: “an obstacle to attention; drawing someone’s attention away from something; inattention” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/distraction).

So, 

• What is the underlying fear? 
• What creates this fear and how does it hold us back? 
• Why do we allow distractions? 
• Why are we so afraid to face this false expectations appearing real?

Well, for each person, this may appear to be different but when you really get to the root,

it is the fear of Change and the Unknown!  Because change is like death, we associate this with discomfort.  So, we return to our primitive instincts of fight or flee basically finding every excuse, or distraction, to avoid it.  We are so attached to our ideas we create the illusionary expectation of any outcome = the idea that anything else we’re currently experiencing would be uncomfortable and, therefor, it must be avoided at all costs.

We are so attached to our livelihood that we become complacent in our daily comforts and routines that the mere idea of moving forward keeps us stuck so, instead of allowing the change to happen, we create distractions to avoid dealing with it!  How do I know this… ha ha, well, that’s my AHA Moment right there!  I’m spilling the beans on myself and owning up to this right now because I know from witnessing what my own patterns have revealed.

A friend recently mentioned how she was finding herself overeating and how much it perplexed and bothered her.  I found myself reflecting on this because I, too, was doing the same on and off.  Now, I won’t say I was necessarily overeating so much as burying myself in one of my passions of inventing new food creations, to avoid working on my writing.  I can get my own distractions in creative ways that seem perfectly innocent as they do yield results but not necessarily the ones I really should be focusing on.  Does this make sense to anyone else out there?

So, how many of you out there see how you create distraction in your own life to avoid doing what you know needs your immediate attention?
If you are able to witness how you are responsible for blocking your own forward growth and progression, will you take action even if it means you cannot predict the outcome?

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.
~ Norman Vincent Peale

Previously, I wrote: 

The key ~ not to get attached to the outcome of these expectations.  Because the root of suffering is in expectation!  Emotion lies behind all of this ~ emitting a feeling or attaching to an outcome!

“Choose wisely where you place your attention/focus because your energy is precious and shouldn’t be wasted!”

Love and Light Blessings,

~ Lana