A Filtered life
The human body is an amazing thing….for the most part. It moves on command, makes us mobile, and can take in a glorious sunrise. But sometimes my body does not move on command, and I bump into the door, or it is too tired / sore to be mobile (you mean I have to go all the way into the kitchen from here???) or worse, it looks at a sunrise and says, “Nice, we gottta go now.” What a relationship I have with this body.
But I have also noticed the body is a fabulous filtration device. What is outside the body comes in, let’s say in the form of a conversation. You ruminated on what was said; maybe you agreed with the words spoken and your heart was light and you were able to breathe a little deeper. You continued to spread kindness all day long. It’s also possible you disagreed with the words and your heart became heavy, the stomach tightened, your shoulders tensed. Your fight or flight mechanism took over and you stewed on the conversation. Instead of kindness, you spread angst, snappiness, frustration.
The point is in the first and happier scenario, you allowed the joy of the words to float right through you. Your body filtered it all effortlessly with no stopping or blockages. Adrenaline was not released into the blood stream, oxygen levels deepened, blood sugar levels remained constant. But in the second scenario, you took all that energy from the words and stuffed them inside the body without processing or filtering them. You asked the stomach to hold the pain, you asked the heart to hold the hurt, you told the lungs to breathe shallow. All systems stopped.
Well, Tami, what am I supposed to do with it? Good question and you know what I’m going to say. You take it to your yoga mat! LOL! We know that movement helps process emotions, most of the time without us even knowing it. Many times, I have an encounter with a situation or person that just does not go right. I have learned to hold it in my consciousness and get to my mat, my garden, or my meditation cushion as soon as I can. I try to not let it settle in a body part like I have done so many times in the past with disastrous results. No, I am not always around my tools, but I always have my feet with me. A good walk can pause a bad mood.
Bottom line, yoga is the filtration system for the emotional body. Don’t hold on to that stuff any longer than you must. Come to a class and we’ll tease that bad mood out redirecting it’s energy into something more positive like compassion and humility. We cannot sustain life in constant states of demand, denial and pushing. Y’all, we were made for togetherness and community. Put down your sword, mighty warrior, there is another way.
