Having access to a wise woman makes me a blessed person indeed. Every now and then she gives me these little pointers or snippets that never fail to come in useful. Best of all is that she instinctively knows what I'm going through without me uttering a word. The fact that we live 4 hours away from one another makes it even more amazing.
My post today is not to gush over my wise woman (even though I could) but rather to chat about breathing. So allow me to quickly bring you up to speed on why breathing as a topic is so dear to me today. During the past four months I started a new job, moved to another country, said goodbye to my supporting friends and most traumatic of all, had no choice but to leave my two cats with a friend.
Don't get me wrong. I adore this new chapter in my life, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing....
It has always been normal for me to run around from one task to the next.
Treacherous schedules, deadlines, to-do lists - bring it on!
Everything comes at a cost though and for me it was not being able to get a decent rest at night because I struggled to fall asleep.
In the past, working with my breath to relax before bed-time helped a great deal.
This is exactly where the "sigh of relieve" comes in.
Having done Yoga for a while I'm not new to pranayama - the art of controlling the breath or prana. My practice though has been somewhat erratic and basically non-existent since my move to Singapore. Back in Hong Kong my wise woman reminded me time and again to practice, practice, practice. You might ask why controlling the breath takes practice, after all, breathing is a natural process, it just happens.
Think back to your childhood. Remember how mesmerised you were the first time you heard someone whistling a tune. My uncle loved to whistle the South African anthem. After hearing him the first time I was hooked. My requests to teach me fell on deaf ears and it was only after he got sick and tired of me following him around with my "imitation" whistle - sounding more like a wolf howling at a very strange pitch - that he sat me down and took me through the basics. It was hard and I think it took me about a year (not kidding) but at the end I could do it. Today, it comes easy.
That's the point with pranayama. It might be hard but the benefits are far-reaching if you persist and continue practicing.
You become more relaxed and have the ability to remain focussed in situations that previously would've left you anxious or angry. In other words: you handle life more efficiently and that brings a degree of peace to your daily existence.
It took an email from my wise woman reminding me that "we enter this world with an inhalation and we depart with an exhalation". Thanks for the nudge, mm.
I don't have the expertise to teach you how to practice pranayama but here is a link to a great site.
You know where to find me if you want to learn to whistle though...
