By Megan McDonough
I felt an asthma attack coming on this morning as I was teaching yoga. It came at the worst possible moment, just as I was getting ready to lead the final relaxation. I had been neglecting to use the steroid inhaler that keeps my asthma in check. When I feel good, I forget that I need it. When I have difficulty breathing, I remember too late to take it, since it needs time to work. It's like having a leaky roof. Can't fix the roof when it's raining...no need to if it isn't.
Short of breath, I wondered how I would be able to lead the guided relaxation before the final meditation. Really, who can relax with an out-of-breath asthmatic rasping out instructions?
I started beating myself up for forgetting my medicine, while at the same time wondering how I could gracefully escape the room to use my emergency inhaler, which leaves me shaky and jittery.
Silence filled the room instead of my usual calm speaking voice.
Then the words came. As is usually the case when I'm leading relaxation, I wasn't sure what was going to come out of my mouth. Then this thought arose and I spoke it into the room: What if the universe was breathing you instead of you trying to breathe?
Instead of you inhaling, what if the universe was exhaling into your body everything you need in this very moment? Instead of you exhaling, what if the universe was inhaling out of you all the stuff that clogs you up?
Breathing in, you are filled with whatever you need. Breathing out, you give up to the universe whatever is not serving you.
What would happen if you led your life without feeling that you needed to fix anything, go anywhere, or be anybody? What if you trusted that the universe was always right there for you, cleansing and providing? What if you were an empty vessel, breath moving through you, your essence merging with the universe?
Mind you, I'll be much more diligent about taking my medicine now. The universe has, after all, provided the inhaler as well as the relaxation that ended my asthma attack today.
Try an experiment today. Imagine that every decision and every action (or every indecision or non-action) is exactly the right response. The wind blows when it blows, and is still when it is still. You make a decision or you don't. All striving falls away.
How perfect is that?
Megan McDonough helps you get clear in body, mind and spirit so you can get the results you want. Along with teaching yoga, she's the award-winning author of Infinity in a Box, a marketing consultant for mind/body organizations, and a corporate trainer. She's taught at the famed Kripalu Center, the largest site for yoga and holistic health in the United States and is on the faculty of the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Advanced Training. http://www.ugetclear.com
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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 10:21 AM
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