I went to the bottom of the ocean last week in a kundalini yoga class. Okay, maybe not the actual ocean, but I did go there in my mind.
I’m new to kundalini, so I don’t know the name of the breath practice we were doing. We inhaled for a count of five, exhaled for a count of five, then suspended our breath for a count of 15. It might sound easy, but it wasn’t. I assumed the friends on either side of me were breezing through it, but I later found out we all were struggling until we stopped fighting the 15 seconds and relaxed into the rhythm of the practice.
I also learned from the instructor that our resistance to holding our breath meant that our nervous systems were probably out of whack. Not surprising.
I somehow created rhythm for myself with a visualization of taking a deep breath, diving to the bottom of the ocean to pick up a sea star, then breaking the surface of the water with a big inhale after the 15 seconds. In real life, I would never remove a sea star from its comfy home on the ocean floor, but in this case, it helped to have a target. (And in my imagination, they were surrounded by such sparkly light!) This vision helped me feel in my body the tempo of how things were going to be with this breath practice, and once it got into it, I was able to flow with it.
This small snippet of my life holds so much metaphor for me at the moment. As I suggested in my blog last week, the election felt to me like a gut-punch that knocked me off any rhythm I thought I was grooving to. Until I realized what’s really happening is a call to a different kind of dance. Or one that has been calling us all along.
Even as we watch horrors unfold, we must remember that control over anything except our own energy is a misbelief. Resistance is futile. We don’t always get what we want. But we do get to choose our energy through our thoughts and our actions. Because of this, we always get more of what we are.
I know this in my bones. Holding our breath in disbelief, becoming paralyzed with worry or stuck in anger because we feel the world around us is falling apart only creates resistance and blocks our energy flow. I’m also reminded of the adage, “You are what you eat.” If we feed on a constant stream of fear, we can’t help but manifest more fear.
When I binge on too much fear-inducing energy, I notice that I often literally hold my breath. So lately, I’m working with periods of intentional deep breathing throughout the day. I’m practicing with the mantra, “I am” (inhale), “my breath” (exhale). The simple cadence of this flows me back into my body where I can fully live in the present moment.
If we want to thrive inside this massive shift in consciousness we’re in, we must let go of resistance to what is and create a rhythm for ourselves. We must jump into the metaphorical ocean, eyes wide open, and swim toward the light, suspending our breath until it’s time to take the next one. When we learn to flow this way, we are nourished enough to do what we are here on earth to do.
If you need the support of higher wisdom at this time, consider an intuitive reading, healing or spiritual mentorship. I would be honored to work with you. I also offer sacred community gatherings, with two coming up in December! More info at RememberYourWings.com.
