Soooo… Dealing with overwhelm is draining. Demands too much time and attention away from your wholeness, away from your center of calm. Doing for others and not taking care of yourself. You knock it out the unwanted/required tasks one bit at a time each day. Then, just when you think you’ve got it all down to a level you can handle – one more tragic event gets added to the pile, a monkey wrench gets lodged in the digital works, something that should be simple completely stymies you and the “helpful” bots create a log jam. Then what? Reliance on tech loses you an opportunity that would have been amazing – if they had just picked up the phone and called. If, like me, you have intense texting fatigue, desire for simpler times when people talked to other people and solved problems together, or just want one day where you aren’t terrified for your online security and fighting against unseen forces that have a hunger for your information, then sit with me now. …I heard this poem recently and it is helping.
James McCrea “Instructions Before Visiting Earth”
In the event you wake up and find you are separated from source and manifest into material form, don’t panic. Your condition is only temporary. You have been selected for the opportunity of human incarnation. This 3D simulation is designed to break up the monotony of eternity by giving you a fully immersive experience as a distinct ego identity. Your body will serve as your physical avatar as you navigate a dense and dramatic reality. there will be many distractions causing you to forget your true nature and origin. You will experience a range of emotions from joy to loneliness to despair, but remember no matter what trials and traumas you encounter, your soul remains perfectly safe. At times you may feel lost or afraid. This is totally normal. If you ever need guidance simply slow down your busy mind and bring your awareness to the quiet place inside yourself. On this planet nothing is permanent. People and things will come and go. You will fall in love and form sentimental attachments only to lose everything you hold dear. So cling to nothing too tightly, even yourself, and when it’s time to let go, let go with grace. For nothing is owned only borrowed. As you walk among the people on the planet try to be a good guest. Tread lightly. Remember that you are only visiting. Don’t make a mess. Listen more than you speak. Give more than you take. Don’t keep your soft heart locked inside a glass cage. You’ll never make it out alive and time passes quickly so come back with some battle scars and good stories to tell.
So much beauty unfolds daily around us at this time of year it feels renewing to spend time outside walking or sitting and breathing deeply the fragrant plants, freshly mown grasses and blooming trees and flowers. Of course, if you suffer with pollen allergies you may need to increase your neti pot nasal cleansing to compensate, but deep exhalation can help to clean allergens out of the lungs and nose. Here is a nice easy practice to try the next time you walk your dog or just walk to your parking garage:
Ok, so that title could be a joke! Of course we have to breathe to stay alive, but wouldn’t you like to give your body breath that will help ward off disease? Taking full diaphragmatic breaths releases pressure on major blood vessels that run through the diaphragm muscle. Taking little chest breaths restrict the full expansion of the chest cavity and the release of those vessels. It’s difficult for us to monitor our breathing, but the more we indulge in full inhalations that expand the torso and full exhalations that contract the abdominal muscles we actually increase our oxygen intake, improve circulation between upper body and lower body which lowers blood pressure (!), and tone the abdominal muscles! In addition, complete breaths expel all waste gases so our inhalations give our bodies a real “breath of fresh air!” The yogis tell us that breathing consciously and fully can actually improve our immunity to all things viral by keeping the respiratory system clean. GIve it a try and send me results of your experiment! Of course, breathing may not be as effective as a flu vaccine but it should make you feel great everyday!