Breathe Joy

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.
When the mind is pure, a joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddha



Release the joy inside another and you realease the joy that is inside you.
Neale Donald Walsh



We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need to earth we share
Maya Angelou

This morning, first thing- it was very early. I felt my sweet dog jump on to the bed right next to me. He put his face next to mine as if to gently awaken me. I remained lying there for a moment - allowing myself to feel the amazing joy that was coursing through my body, tingling, sparkling, oscillating and renewing me. All from a short moment of bonding with Bo.

These moments are priceless. Joy is priceless. Whatever we can do to generate a sense of joy is priceless. "We need joy as we need air" We need to breathe joy.

All positive emotions create more positive emotions. That is the law of attraction in action. As I am writing this have put my ipod on shuffle and decided to see what it wants me know..... "I will sing your praises, I will sing your freedom song" - a song celebrating life, "we are eternal". The title of the song is "Inner Flight". I could take this as conincidence- and I know better. The world is constantly reflecting back to us, mirroring us- in every moment. So right now the Ipod is the world reflecting back my own emotions. I am the one who is receiving the information- and creating within myself the overflowing pot of JOY.

It is so easy for us all to forget what it is that brings us Joy. A client recently said to me- that she had not reallized how 'dry' her life had become. What she meant was that in her attempts to "get things under control- take action and not procrastinate" she has totally stifled the joy out of her life. She was not allowing herself to feel joy. There is the key- she was NOT ALLOWING. When we deny ourselves the life force in our beings- when we shut it down in an attempt to "get a handle on things" we also shut down our creativity- we stop breathing. "We need joy as we need air". This is not living!

How do we allow Joy? How do we even realize when we are not allowing Joy? (please note the song now playing - The Miracle of Love!)

Practice #1 - Do you have time for Joy?
Take a deep breath- allow yourself to find a space inside to take a moment. Now take a moment to look at your day. Ask yourself how many times have you missed the chance to feel joy? Perhaps your kid or dog invited you into a playful moment - but you were too 'busy'. Perhaps there was something funny on the radio- but rather than listen you had to 'do" something else. or maybe it was that your friend called to tell you something sweet, but you let it go to voicemail. Busy-ness and the attemtpts to control our lives kills the joy. We have to make time to feel the positive emotions. We have to notice them...and notice the opportunity for them.

Practice #2- Breathe the Joy
Now take a deep breath- let go of whatever it is that you need to do right this moment. All the 100's of things that could pull at your attention. That want you to deal with them. Now take a prescious moment- and bring light to yourself. Allow yourself to feel the energy inj your body, take a moment and look around the room you are in- even if it si your office- look and find something that gives you joy- it could be the way the light is coming through the window, it could be your co-worker who is sweet, silly, annoying- whatever it is find the JOY for a moment. Become an expert at finding the Joy...become a joy receiver- tune yourself to Joy!!! Turn up the light on your Joy....allow it to be radiant. For this moment. And notice what happens inside your body. Joy heals......Joy creates more Joy- this is no mistake- and the positive emotions are regenerative......

Now.....
Notice the Joy card- the kids who are on the front of the card are a profound reminder of the tenacity and prevailing nature of JOY. These kids are living in the most terrfying country in the world- in the midst of war and terror, and yet even they can allow Joy.

I invite you to be JOY to day- to breathe it into your being at every opportunity. To take the time to unlock in another Joy- for the in the act of giving we so deeply receive.

Breathe Joy today.......

Breathe Potential

We are the potential of greatness in every breath.





We all have the extraorinary coded with in us waiting to be released - Jean Houston


Each one of us is truly unique. Like an acorn seed contains within it a blueprint of all the information for the oak tree it will become. Each one of us also contains all the information needed to become ourselves. We are potential unfolding...Anything is possilbe.



Today Hilary Clinton went to visit one of the most dangerous places on the planet Goma in the DRC Congo. I celebrate her courage in doing this. What is the potential for this tortured and ravaged country to heal. Whatever the criticsim of her maybe I do stand up and acknowledge her for actually going to face the situation. she cant fix it - that is for sure- but i do believe that each one of us does have a hand in changing the story.......


The only way forward is for the world to join together in changing the realilty - and create a new story for Congo. This a grand vision- and yet I know from my own experience of being in the DRC that the potential for healing is there- In each child-in each woman. We need to Breathe the Potential of healing into our world. We need to be agents who are willing to release into the world our own potential in service of - Global Wellness....



In every moment we are unfolding- each thought that we have, word that we speak, action that we take, is in essence an opportunity for us to release our innate potential. We choose this. We create this.


Potential is in each one of us- We may all have certain family histoires, genetic histories- and yet science, and intuition show us that we are not bound by our culture, our family, or our biology. We are not fixed beings- we are not closed systems. We are open, fluid and ever changing. We are in every breath filled with possiblity for something magnificent and unprecedented to take shape.



How many times do you catch yourself telling yourself a story based on the past? Based on who you were? Today I worked with a client who is still living out the story of beinig a kid who had to fight his Dad because it was the only way he could survive in a hostile abusive childhood home. This story happened 20 years ago. But it might as well still be happening now- it is still his story. In re-creating this story over and over agian- my client is remaining trapped inside of it- and can only live according to this truth. At this point he is struggling to overcome this and to step into the reality of who he is today- His true potential as a fine, loving and compasionate human being.




Practice #1 - Hear the Story's you are telling yourself....
Right now take a BREATH and slow down- allow yourself to stop and to find a place inside yourself which is like a viewing platform where you can just take in the landscape- as if you are about to take a photo.

Now allow there to be a picture, a memory, a story to come into your view- its one of the most popular stories you retell yourself about yourslef. It is an archive of a point in history. Start to see this story playing out- and notice what happens to you- are you attached to this story- what does the story give you?


One client told me of seeing herself as a kid in a home where her mum was sick and where there was chaos and no structure- everything felt crazy. As an adult she retold this story often to herself, she made this mean that she could not tolerate stress. She used the story to justify this in herself. To back it up! It was the reason that even today she would start to feel anxious and out of control if her world got disordered. What she did to stop this feeling? She held her breath and tried to control everything. The result was - that she did not allow herslef to do things that she wanted becasue they were "too scary".


Notice your favorite oldies----look at them with affection like old movies- and now with a BREATH decide which one is actually limiting you now in your potential- in the person that you are inside.


Breathe Potential now- you contain all the information to be yourself- it is simply that you are needing to release this. Letting go of an old story about who you used to be is like clearing out the closet. You can try on the old clothing- remember when you wore it- even feel sentimental about it- but if it doesnt fit who you are today then you dont need to keep trying it on.....Its ok to let it go and start to tell a new story about yourself.


I invite you to clear out the closet today- find one old story and try it - notice who you in the story and then find anew story to tell- its a style make over at the soul level.....

For more Breathe Potential Practices please look out for the BREATHE HARMONY 90 DAY PROGRAM.......it will be available very soon as an ebook!

Blessings to you all.....

Breathe Emptiness Presence

Breathe Empty Presence

If a cup is already full then there is no room for any more to poured into it- Only through emptying the cup can we be open to receiving more.

If all you did was breath in eventually you would explode!!!!!

Only through emptying out can we truly find the peace......the pause after the out breath has been let go - before we breath in again- this is the empty space..........and inside the empty space we can find presence.

More more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more.................................this is the scream of our world...we all want, desire and demand....MORE.

Every where we look there is still more- more stuff to buy, more things to experience, more foods to taste more experience to have, more information to know. There is nothing wrong with more- only when it gets the point of making us sick. We all have had the experience of eating too much cake, drinking too much wine, (taking too many drugs) - there comes a point where even the most enjoyable experience can become too much.

We are adverse to being Empty- we are always seeing to fill ourselves with something- On a recent trip to South Korea I was wondering around Seoul- taking in the delights of the city. It is an exemplary Asian city- full of well oiled consumerism everywhere- you are being enticed to buy buy buy. Huge bill boards with fast moving videos mesmerize you as you walk down the streets. here you can buy everything - 24 hours a day....In the midst of my walking I stumbled into an oasis- it was a central office of the Korean Zen Buddhist temple stay program. This is a program that gives Westerners a chance to go and stay in Korean temples to receive the Dharma (teachings). Imagine being in a techno charged city and suddenly being enveloped with quiet. Space.

Despite all the busy-nessand non stop-ness there is also SPACE. in fact it is something that I have noticed many times in the days that i travelled in japan and Korea- they know how to leave space- big big expansive areas of open space. Where there is nothing to clutter they eye- the mind- where there is SPACE to breathe......

Back at the zen center I am greeted calmly, gently , kindly by Sally the information worker- and we take tea together. In the midst of our connection we find ourselves talking about depression- the merits of western and eastern medicine practices. She told me that the only answer for her has been to empty out her heart and to allow it to fill with joy. "i can only do this from a place of emptiness.. other wise there is no room for the joy to come in- i have to make space for it first"

As we were talking we were both performing the ritual of tea drinking. If there is one thing that can give me the greatest pleasure it is tea...drinking it, preparing it, looking for it- i am die hard tea lover.....so bear with me( I even once did a stint working as a tea tasting assistant back in the day...seriously!) First you pour hot water into the tea pot- allow the tea to steep. Then pour a certain amount into your cup. then pour the rest into a bowl. Put more hot water into the tea pot. Sip from the cup - empty it out- our tea from the bowl into the cup. And repeat. Are you getting the picture and significance of this ritual??? Its the constantly filling up and emptying out- I am taken by this symbol of one the great teachings. In this moment i am so deeply in tune with the apparent contradiction and paradox of emptiness being fullness....... in order to be full you have to empty-

When we are in discomfort, when we are feeling bored, in pain, distressed the first thing most of us do is to reach for something to take the "bad' experience away. Most of us stop Breathing - that much is for sure- this is one way of avoiding having to feel anything at all.....

For years I have specialized in working with addictions (to everything). I have been fascinated by our apparent need to crave, desire and yearn for good feelings and to abhor, reject, and go into aversion for "bad" feelings. what most of avoid is simply being with the feeling- or sitting and allowing ourselves to become empty. As Sally said it is only through getting quiet and letting go of my mind and opening my heart that i can empty out all the sadness and be ready to have there be joy instead.

Practice #1: The Experience of Breathing Fullness

I know- its sounds strange- but I have found in my work with clients that it is easier to start with the full feeling- So in whatever way you want let yourself feel yourself as full- So take a moment to imagine a time when you felt so satiated and full - could have been a good meal, a beautiful view, a great talk with a friend, a wonderful love making session with your partner- whatever it was that had you feel full- and alive. Let yourself recall this experience fully- feel your body and notice what happens in your fullness.

Now as you breathe let your attention go to your out breath- as you breath out imagine being able to empty out. Place your hand on your belly and let the breath move out from your belly, then release it from your diaphragm, and then your chest. As you do this hold the image in your mind of emptying out- like water pouring out of a cup.... let your self feel the emptying out. repeat this for the next few breaths. allowing your mind to become still.

Breathing Empty presence is an invitation to make space for not knowing- in the space where we are empty we are able to to not know. The gift of not knowing is that it opens up the possibility of the unexpected to happen.

Practice Breathing Empty Presence today- allow there to be a few moments of emptying out......

The top secret to Beauty from the inside out....

Breathe Beauty......

"Beauty is not in the face, it is a light in the heart." Kahil Gibran

"Beauty is in the heart of the beholder" Al Bernstein

We are as a culture obsessed with beauty- we are constantly seeking to make ourselves more beautiful. Beauty is a multi billion dollar industry. I am not impervious, I am a happy consumer of beauty- I am happy to play in the realm of make-up, clothing. style, image- but that is not all there is.....I love to play with as an expression of an inner beauty, as an expression of beauty not as a way to hide what other wise I might deem to be unattractive or ugly.

I have worked for many years with women and men on issues of attractiveness, body image, eating disorders, and other compulsive addictions aimed at trying to manipulate their bodies to be more "beautiful". More often than not- the procedures, the excessive weight loss, attempts to mask that which we don't like, results not in more happiness- but in more dis-ease. We are plagued with the compulsion and desire to change yet another aspect of our bodies to comply with the "idea" of what is deemed beautiful. And yet my experience, over the years, is that the obsession with the external 'beauty" or "perfection" is more truthfully connected to feeling ugly,unlovable , self loathing or self hatred on the inside. The obsession with trying to focus attention on making the outside look a certain way is simply a mask for the inside that does not feel well.... Not feeling beauty inside is the issue.......and being beauty is an inside job!

I had a young woman client, Stella,who was obsessed with the size of her breasts- so much so that she hated her body- would not date, let alone have sex, her "happiness' revolved around not feeling beautiful. Stella ended up, after much thought, having a breast implant surgery. After an incredibly painful recovery- she still was not happy. They were not big enough- they did not change how she really felt about herself....Stella still didn't feel beautiful.....

Real beauty is indeed a quest...and one that we are told is something that we can acquire- Certainly the right hair, make-up, clothing can all add to the visual image of beauty. I am all for a make-over and do not shun the fashion world-In fact i love it for its inventiveness, art and expression...However, I would much rather work with clients from the inside out. Beauty starts on the inside- breathing beauty means cultivating a place of beauty within.

So how do we really "feel beautiful"? For when we feel the beauty, we exude the beauty, we see beauty, we breathe beauty, WE BECOME BEAUTY.....

Whats the Biggest Beauty Secret of ALL?

One thing has become so very clear to me- the biggest beauty secret that any of us could ever wish to practice is the nurturing and cultivation of a peaceful, open heart. if most of use puts as much focus on the beauty of inner world as we do on appearing beautiful to the outer world the balance would shine from us. You know when you see the beautiful glow of a pregnant woman- as she walks around growing new life in her body- this glow certainly comes from the hormones that are being released in her body- but more than that it is also often times her inner state of loving her baby who is growing inside her that is creating an inner sense of beauty that is radiating out through her body. Thankfully this is not the exclusive right of only pregnant women- we can all choose to feel beauty inside...and to create the optimal inner universe which can be a fertile place for beauty to grow.....

We can create inner beauty- through choosing to Breathe Beauty- as we consciously choose to feel beauty inside by creating a state of peace and harmony, we quite literally are in the active process of renewing, revitalizing, relaxing and rejuvenating our energetic systems. The inner spa is one that of course comes shining through in our hair, nails, skin, eyes, and general health- Beauty is holistic- it is a state of being not a state of doing......

So how do we walk the beauty way?

There is a Navajo prayer:

Always walk in Beauty

ahead of me....

Always walk in Beauty

behind me....

Always walk in Beauty

above me....

Always walk in Beauty

below me...

And All around me...

Always walk in Beauty

I have added one stanza to this.....

Always walk in Beauty

within me.......

Practice #1 Feel the Beauty

Part of accessing a sense of beauty is to utilize all of our sense- Our five sense are what relay to us all the information about the world around us- they are what give us our experience of the world. Part of experiencing internal beauty is to be able to drink in beauty- This act of nourishing ourselves with the beauty of the world around us is one way to activate and cultivate a feeling sense of beauty. Once we have this sense we can start to practice looking through the heart of beauty at the world....

So......

Find a flower- could be your favorite flower - even if you think you don't much care for flowers find one anyway...and be open to the experience....

Take the flower- and first really look at it- the color, the shading, the way the petals curl or lay, the stem, the inside of the flower, see everything about this flower and let yourself really be moved by the vision of beauty..let yourself become intimate ( yes i did say that!) as Rumi would say allow yourself to be loved by the flower.....

Now- touch the flower, feel the texture of the petals on your fingers, go ahead and let your hands really feel the sensuality of the flower, the delicacy, the smoothness..whatever the sensation is enjoy it..revel in it and notice how you feel......

Move the flower close to your face--allow yourself to begin to notice the fragrance...how does it make you feel, what do you notice inside your body. Breathe in the beauty of this flower in its scent no matter how delicate or strong..allow it to inform you of beauty..it is telling you a secret of beauty that it wants you to have.....remember we are practicing the beauty way here....

You could also do this with the other two sense of taste and hearing- have you ever listen to a flower- may sound bizarre - but once again i invite you to really allow for the incredible to happen the unexpected.....many composers have written music about flowers, trees, clouds, beaches, oceans, stars , planets the list goes on- the natural world is resplendent and abundant with ways for us to feel beauty....inside out.....

This is but one of many practices that we can do in order to become beauty....For more please go to http://www.planetbreathe.com/

"Beauty is in the heart of the beholder". That which we see with the eyes of beauty becomes beautiful....and that starts with ourselves. Breathe Beauty from the inside out today and notice how this can change how you feel....

I am available for "Beauty-Inside-Out Make Overs" Where we focus on matching the outside with the inside...and dressing for an expression of authentic true beauty within...- please feel free to contact me with your interest:

elayne_doughty@hotmail.com

Breathe Vision

A vision is a vision because it feels signifcantly beyond our reach- that's the point...visions are the guiding lights of our inspired imaginations.......they invite us to stretch beyond that which we have previously believed possible....

Every day I meet poeple in person and on the web who are living what could be called extra-ordinary ordinary lives- they are like you or me...simply going about life.....and yet inside they hold a vision for a better world, a more peaceful world, a more loving world. They hold visions for the cure to cancer, for healing from brain injury, for recvoring from addiciton. they hold true to their beliefs that no kid should go hungry, that violence agianst women needs to end... and each day they take actions in their own lives to make this so. These people are like you and me everyday visionaries. Here I am thinking of a wonderful woman that I know who is a true and compelling athlete- her unserving focus and visions for her own excellence are always inspiring others to have their own visions...and to reach for the greater than imagined in their own lives....

Being a visionary is not something that is limited to the chosen few- just as being an artist isn't either. The ability to vision new ideas and possiblities is within each and every one of us. Like everything else it is something that can be practiced! Breathing Vision into your life allows for the out of the ordinary to happen in very ordinary ways. Breathing vision creates the space for that which you would never have thought of, to become something that instills itself as a guiding light in your heart...

Last night I had a conversation with an amazing woman visoinary that I know who is a humnitarian aid worker serving the women of the Congo as a Gender-based violence advisor. Her vision is a strong and courageous one- to be an advocate to end sexual violence. See thats a big vison right? She was sharing with me how hard it is to keep her vision alive in a place where there is so much terror, darkness and corruption. She talked about how hard it is to keep the energy and feeling that she could hold a vision for anything to change. I could feel her lonliness with this tremendous task that she has commited herself to. As we talked it occured to me that it is one thing for us to be courageous to have a vision in our lives- whatever it may be- and quite another to be able to follow through with the vision in the face of adversity and challenge.

I was compelled to reach out to her and ask her if i could be a holder of her vision- so that she did not need to be so alone with this... I share her vision here in the knowing that a vision shared is a vision that becomes more focussed and more easily manifested...

Brandi's Vision: "My vision to be serving the women of the Congo in an organization where I am appreciated, and compensated and challenged. To grow in my field, as a gender based violence advisor andproject co-ordinator. To be sadfe and protected."

Now we may not all be living in such extreme circumstances as war torn Congo-facing these kinds of challnges in our visions.. .. yet for all of us there is a challenge in holding true to our visions. Once we have connected with a vision and start to lilve our life in alignment with it we inevitably discover that we can't do it alone....we need to not only hold our visons but be held in our visions. Whatever they are.

Practice #1 Getting out of your own way....embracing the visonary that you are...

Take a moment to call in a vision that you have- it could be anything-anything that has ever boethered you- that you have felt compelled towards wanting to change? It could be a cause, it could be an invention, it could be a service of somekind, it could be just about anything that in some way adds heart value, practical help, deeper meaning, joy ....to your life and the lives of others.When asked to focus on a vison that you have for yourself, family friends, or world..what hapens? Are you flooded with thoughts of the improbablity of the vision? Now notice what happens- do you stop breathing? Do you feel like you dont know what your visionis? Do you feel you dont have vision.. or is it easy for you. No matter what response you have - be with it. Breathe into the possiblity that you are the receptor of your own visions- and that each one of us is uniquely important in our contribuition. Are you wondering what vision you could possibly hold?

Pracitce #2- Sharing the Vision

Once you are out of your way- you can actually find the way to name what some of your visions are....You need to be supported by others in these wonderful visons. Remember we are not alone with what we vision. It is in the process of sharing them that the can become energized and you just never know who you are talking to....or what they might add of such great value to your vision.....

So the incitation today is to find someone - and to share with them your vision and to ask them what thier vison is. Invite this conversation and Breathe life and energy into your visons no matter how large or small... Invite the privelege of being a vision holder for another- this is an extremely important and wonderful way to create connections...

So in the spirit of sharing here is one of my visons: I see a way to to actively co-create with as many poeple as possible through the internet- to create communites of empowerment so that we can all share the incredible resources that we have. Another is to connect amazing women all over the world in a web of support and empowerment...yet another is see world peace.....Now these are my guiding lights. They give me the purpose to become inspired in my imagination of the ways that I may be able to create this vision....And invite me to risk being in relaitonship with a world where many manhy others share my vision....

I invite you to breathe vision today andto know that thoughts become reality through our visions, andinspired imaginations.....

Breathe Equanimity

Equanimity-

The quality of being calm, balanced, having composure..

Everything that is created on the outside is first created by a thought on the inside. "Time for silence and stillness is not time wasted! Surrender to this silent. empty canvas on which you can consciously create" (Spillsbury - 13 Mooon Oracle)

How did your day start? What was the first thought you had this morning when you got up? What was the feeling tone of your first breath? Do you remember? Our first thoughts and feelings create the tone for the movie of our day....

This morning I awoke feeling peaceful - I was singing, cleaning the kitchen, making fresh orange juice- all was well with my world. I was breathing equanimity- feeling the internal sense of all is right with my world: calm, peaceful, centered...

Then...I saw the post on the side- I took the envelopes and opened them- not really paying attention I took a look at the first one...it was from the police...a notification that I owed about 250.00 for a speeding ticket I had gotten months ago... Immediately I felt heat start to rise in my body- my heart rate increasing, I felt victimized, angry, put upon and worst of all angry with myself.

Suddenly out of nowhere came the old old voices: "You are so stupid, why didn't you pay more attention, now look what you have done, now you need to be punished for this" .....such was the familarity of these old patterns that for about 30 minutes I was stuck in a reactionary loop - pretty much ruining my day....Where had my previous positive, feel good mood gone? I was now living in my own hell- a loop of bad feeling cruising through my system.... Now where was that elusive equanimity?

I know that I am not the only one who has these experiences- I work with clients everyday who have similar struggles when faced with experiences that are stressful- what we would call unpleasant. we get readily attached to having these experience not only define us but also imapct how we see our day. In the law of attraction we are setting ourselves up for more of the same......So what to do..we need to find ways to re-balance...to hit the reset button!

Practice #1 On the out breath!

Well first things first- If you find yourself in this kind of loop....unable to stop the downward spiral...on the train to your own personal hell realm....this could be a practice for you!

Take a breath, and begin to imagine releasing the toxins of these thoughts right out of your body. On each exhale conscisouly choose to let go of your thinking, you can imagine these thoughts actually dissolving in front of your eyes. Imagine that these thoughts are in in fact toxins and that each breath is a way to clean out your insides.

Practice #2: Take a Shower!!

Ok maybe not practical - but if it is you can go and literally take a shower- and focus your awareness on the sensation of the water hitting your body. Then with your mind actually imagine that you can let the thoughts be washed right out of you- as the water is able to refresh and clean your mind, body and spirit......In every culture there are rituals of cleansing and bathing- these are not simply for the cleanliness of the body- but also of the energetic system, the auric field. Feel the way that the water can conduct negativity out of you system. Similar to being with a waterfall where you can feel the energy being ionized by the water- A shower does the same thing....

Practice #3: Invite Stillness and Balance

Breathe Equanimity- as you breath in imagine your focus on a blue pool of water- It is very still and mirror like, deep sapphire blue in colour- Imagine that this is where you are sitting and allow yourself to begin to calm. In this space allow your mind to become empty - apart from this cooling, calming, blue poolof inward quiet....

No matter what your environment is, no matter what outside stressors come your way (speeding tickets included!) you can choose to Breathe Equanimity- you can choose to find the way back to a place quiet, relaxation and awareness....It is a practice for sure!

An invitation to you today is to notice stress, upset and the heat of irritatin aan to bring the cool breathe of equanimity to yourself. Allowing your body, mind and spirit to de-stress is the best gift you can give yourself....practice this each time you get off balance!

Breathe Strength

Breathe Strength

Strength is to generosity what compassion is to love. Strength..just feel what happens when you let this word roll of your tongue. As you say it out loud how does your body, mind and spirit respond? What is its vibrancy in your being? What does this tell you about the quality of strength? Feel it in your spine, in your heart. I am finding myself sitting upright, finding the gravity of my own back bone...feeling my center. There is a steadfast quailty, a grounding in, a sense of noble knowing. Notice what happens to your own body.- When does strength become fixed and rigid and more like arrogance and "rightness". When is strength in service of the higher good, when it is tamed- when does brute strength become noble strength?

Breathing strength is an invitation to feel your center- your core, your ability to take the raw vital life force of protection, tenacity, perserverance, convition and be able to focalize its amazing fire inside your loving heart. Strength without heart becomes dagnerous at best and domination at worst. Strength with out generosity or compassion runs the risk of being untamed, unfocussed and in its ferocity may burn all who step close.

Have you ever felt yourself in the heat of your anger wishing to be of service to the higher good- of wanting to say something important- but found your self communicating in a way that simply burnt all those around you? Often times when we are feeling our strength it can be connected also to our anger- this is when the harsh light of our "truth" may in its ferocity damage somone. Breathing strength gives us the chance for us to take responsibility for our amazing life force energy to focalize it through the lens of our hearts before we choose to communicate in the world.

Finding our strength is an internal 'blissipline" (thank you Kat for passing this on to me!) it is commitment to feeling the deep power inside of ourselves and offering this power in service of the higher good. Strength is physcial, emotional and spiritual in nature..exploring our ability to live in our strength in a loving and compssionate way is a core spiritual practice. Breathing strength is the pracitce of staying heart connected as we move into our power.

The shadow side of strength can have many faces- control, domination, violence, negation of feelings. fixity, arrogance, or alternatively it can look like collpase, victimhood, lack of internal center, inability to say no, fear of staying the course,lack of responsibility in managing emotions. In our culture strength has been extremely genderized- how we understand strength is colored by our cutural obsession with the need to be the 'best'. To be somehow superior. To be strong implies that others are weak- indeed survival of the fittest is a core value of our cutural belief system. As we move in our evolution, strength becomes a virtue, a quality that is an alchemical distillation of complex emotions into a noble feeling state where there is a conviction based in humility and kindness.

Fierce compassion is a form of strength that we all need in our lives and in our world. Breathing strength is an invitaiton to look at all the ways that you may have misued or abandoned or negated your own strength. What are the beliefs that you have about being strong? And what happens when you hear the word weakness- how does your body respond? Do you collpase a littel or do you feel yourself rally? In noticing how we hold these different energies we are able to bring the focus of our awareness and the light of our heart so that Breathing Strength becomes a practice of subtle ferocity.

An invitaiton for today: think of someone you admire- who is the epitome of this kind of loving strength. How do they hold themselves in the world? I look to the Dalia lama- whose strength is loving kindness - Breathing strength is a practice of feeling and taking responsibility for our thoughts, words and actions...it is finding the way to communicate with conviction and love. Intend today to breathe strength in all your thoughts, words and actions..........