Welcome to a new weekly(ish) feature here at exhale. return to center…

b r e a t h i n g  s p a c e. 

Those of you who have taken yoga classes with me in the past may recognize some of the passages I will share. They are some of my favorite post-savasana readings, which I will be pairing with a photograph to hopefully help all of us to remember to pause and create a little more breathing space in our busy days!

I will also share a question(s) for reflection with each entry. Please feel free to respond to the question here, explore it privately in your journal, or just take a few minutes and hold it quietly in your heart.

 

And now let’s begin with a deep breath in and a deep breath out…

 

 hearing your inner voice

“My dad always used to say, “If you take a step and it feels good, you must be headed in the right direction.” What he wanted us to understand was that we needed to measure our progress against an inner compass, using our feelings, our comfort level, and our knowledge of ourselves as the ultimate guide…

I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to hear that inner voice above the noise around me…It says softly that happiness is as simple as having something to look forward to in the morning…It says, in a low murmur I sometimes have to strain to hear, that now is the time to have fun.”

~ Linda Weltner, in No Place Like Home

 

 

Pause for another deep, full breath.

 

Questions for further reflection:

Are you able to hear your inner voice above the noise around you? Do you set aside time for quiet inner listening? How in tune are you with your inner compass? 

 

Conclude with another deep, full breath in. And a deep, full breath out.

 

 

And now my friends, I am going to give myself some breathing  space. 

I am leaving Saturday for my first solo road trip with my kids (plus one!) and before we go I have a newsletter to produce, several articles to write, laundry to do, a car to pack, a mothers’ circle to lead on Friday night, and two beautiful children to enjoy in the process.

I woke up this morning with my head spinning, feeling totally overwhelmed by all that I need to do, but instead of doing anything, I decided to lay in bed quietly and listen to my inner voice. As I felt around for what I could take off my plate and how I could ensure that our much-anticipated vacation does not involve a growling, stressed-out mama, I remembered that I blog by choice, for fun, and that I can take a break any time I want to and right about now feels like the perfect time to do so.

A week of blog posts off the plate. Ahhhh….that works for me!

And now it’s on to the laundry…

See you back here next week. Be well friends.

(Don’t know why but the spam has been a-flyin’ around here lately. And since I’m going to be “unplugged” for the next several days, I’m just going to go ahead and close these comments. Happy weekend all!) 

Tagged as: breathing space, yoga