After

After a good, long day

I feel muscles that I had forgotten

Muscles I took for granted 

Muscles that have worked for me

Without question

For decades

After these many, good long days

I am grateful for 

this intricate webbing,

this abundance of organic fibres,

this marvellously woven network

that holds me strong

that supports me

no matter what I choose to do

whether I fall or run or walk

These muscles message me

When they are stretched 

too far, too fast or too quickly ~

for that I am also grateful.

“She is a woman of muscle twisted around bone.”

~ Veronica Roth, Allegiant

Balancing Act ~ 2

News reports on radio and television and on most social media sites are filled with murder and mayhem, political upheaval and fiscal irresponsibility. Full of danger and fear mongering, horrific events and tragedy. Wikipedia tells me that physiologist, Walter Bradford Cannon, coined the term ‘fight of flight response’ - the internal response we all have to scary things. I put two and two together and decided that we spend too much time in fight or flight just by listening to the news, watching all the dreadful things on news, and constant poking at each other on our electronic gadgets.

I’m not much of a mathematician, but the next bit of addition was about our ‘specialness’. We are all special. We’re taught that since..well.. since we’re old enough to be told how special we are. And, yes, it’s true. We’re all special! The only problem is that ‘special’ people believe that they will never get hurt. We’ve all been protected from skinned knees and falling down, from having any contact with germs or anything that might hurt our little ones.

So what I’ve determined is that we are in an extremely unbalanced world. And yet we live in a world of great abundance. That abundance is either really all horrible or really cotton candy. Fight or flight. Special and protected. 

What is really unbalanced is my attitude tonight. I’ve talked about either end of the spectrum of our lives. At this writing, I realized that most of us live somewhere in-between, in the middle of that continuum. Keeping us from freezing into a fight or flight mode, or becoming unconscious and unaware of how we need to be aware of our surroundings. When we stay in our centre, we can keep our lives as safe and comfortable as possible.

“The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. 

It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, 

who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.”

~ Gordon B. Hinkley

Author's note: Edited February 10, 2024

Breath Work

Breathe in……..Breathe out

daily ease of in and out

slow and steady on the pillow

from the first crying gasp into light and cold 

even though nestling at mother’s breast to suckle

with thoughtless instinct in the abundance all around

with reflex that keeps us all alive that pulls oxygen deep, deep into the belly and core

space opened for new clean air to fill our bodies

Breathe in…..Breathe out….

feel the power of our own body 

to pull life and energy within

a gentle force in the space around you.

cleansing breaths to shine your light

to accept universal energy and pull it back in for

inspiration of the world around us and

expiration of the world within us 

until there is only a gentle continuum.

Breathe in…. breathe out….

pull in calmness and joy, gratitude and peace

push away anxiety and fear, worry and anger

to feel your self, to know your self, to be grateful for your self.

our breath is who we are, what we believe and how we perceive our world

our breath is our life, and is our joy

is each day that opens and each day that comes to a close

like the sun coming up and the sun going down

like the moon rising high and the moon slipping from the skies

Breathe in…..breathe out……

“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.”

~ Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men