Soul Musings/Day 13: Trusting There Is Enough

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Trusting that there is enough air to breathe is an underlying sustainable process that goes on day after day without our conscious attention.  Imagine for a moment that all aspects of your life carried this much trust.” Gaye Abbott from Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath

It is within the exhale that we trust there will be another inhale to follow, for if we did not we would never let go of the air that is nourishing us at this moment. We would cling on to it as if it is our last breath – our last chance at life.

The quality of your exhale then represents how much you do indeed trust your life. Holding-on to the exhale, or in other words holding-back from exhaling, mirrors areas of your life that could be immersed in conversations that hold doubt, fear, protection or contraction in your body.

Here, within the bodies sacred union of air and the process of breathing, is nested an opportunity to come into direct contact with what may be holding you back from taking that next active step, or fully expressing yourself.

Take some time to play with your exhale (yes PLAY!) by singing, chanting, laughing, or sounding on the exhale – perhaps with an extended “ahhhhhhh” sound, or the sound you make when traveling down a roller coaster with your hands up in the air!

This gives your body a thumbs up to reinstate the liquid relaxed flow of the exhale and to interrupt conversations in your body that create stagnation and potentiate contraction.

Use the breath to be aware of ways in which you are holding back on your own life ……and play with the freedom and trust that an unrestrained exhale provides.

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NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

WildlyFreeWoman

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Soul Musings/Day 6: Essensual Breath

senses

All life that came before us depended on senses to navigate their particular place in the world, their physical survival actually depending upon it. As this connection deepens, and in some cases returns, our direct experience of life in the moment expands.

Simply taking one full breath floods our sense of smell with scent as nasal passages are stimulated.

Increases visual depth and acuity as oxygen stimulates our visual receptors.

Creates a soft sound that reminds us we are alive.

Expands ribcage, back and belly massaging the organs and moving the fluids within.

Increases sensitivity to touch as the breath moves in and out.

Stimulating appetite to “taste” more of life, enhancing aliveness…

….with simply one essensual breath.

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NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbotthttp://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

WildlyFreeWoman

NaturalWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

 

Soul Musings/Day 3: Laughter for the Soul

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Laughter, a universal vocabulary without words.

A connector in mirth or an attempt to belong.

Stimulator of feel good endorphins or scornful disdain.

A veritable landscape of sounds capturing humanity in free for all expression.

Belly laugh or quiet giggle.

Breaker of tension.

All out uninhibited, wet your pants, tearing eyes, can’t stop, good for your soul breathing.

Do it….today.

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NATURAL PASSAGES CONSULTINGphoto58

Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time

Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day.  Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.

Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship.  Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.

To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail.  In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below.  Thank you for being part of this practice with me!

Gaye Abbott – http://www.GayeAbbott.com

OTHER BLOGS:

WildlyFreeWoman

NaturaWealthJournal

Breath-Book-coverW2(3)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

 

 

 

Embodied Samadhi

Alex Grey Chakras
Image by Alex Gray

I was being asked to “drop the body” and I felt rebellion brewing up under the surface.  The well meaning yoga teacher was attempting to point out the many ways in which we contract our bodies in fear or barricade ourselves from the assumed trauma which we believe will invariably reach us in the next moment or two.  In fact, this protection, shutting down, hiding and breath holding has taken up residence in so many of us without our conscious awareness.

The “rebellion” that I felt came from many years of being within meditative and spiritual communities that encouraged us  to “drop our bodies” or “leave our bodies” in order to become “enlightened” or reach the state of Samadhi or pure consciousness apart from the mind (and body).  Since I inhabit a creative woman’s body this time around and am extremely connected to the natural world this always made no sense to me.

Spending many years making myself “wrong” for feeling as I did I would return over and over to a practice that had no grounding – or if the truth be know “meaning” for me.  It was easy for me to access those “higher states of spiritual consciousness” however my body was begging me to not leave it behind and to inhabit the “soul” of my being which can be a little messy and definitely divinely feminine!

Take a good long look at Alex Gray’s famous image above and note that this being is not only completely present in  body, but also interconnected with the earth and all elements.  We also see this in the image of Buddha below and within the quote from an influential and famous ascetic-philosopher of the 20th century Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (1906-1993) who was known as an innovative re-interpreter of Buddhist doctrine and Thai folk beliefs. Buddha’s right hand touching the earth informs us that without using any words, the Buddha calls on the Earth to bear witness.  This “earth mudra” is a beautiful example of the integration of  “embodied cognition” and a respect for and celebration of the divine feminine, creative embodied presence.

ashvattha-buddha“The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees, and the Earth. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise — then we can build a noble environment. If our lives are not based on this truth, then we shall perish.” –Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

The times we live in are requesting – no demanding – that we embody and perhaps redefine the concept of samadhi – to acquire integration, or wholeness, or truth within the awareness of deep interconnection or “being” with all that is.  This means staying in the body and integrating it as an amazing vehicle from which we can serve others and bring our own wisdom, talents, creativity and gifts.  This means remembering that we are the earth and all elements so deeply interconnected that it would blow our minds if we could really see and feel it!

“All is one” – a non-dualistic frame of reference for relationship and cooperation.  This means taking action from a fully integrated body inhabiting the miracle of breath that moves in and out from a universal source that gives life to everything and everyone in the cosmos.  Ubuntu – essential interdependence. The Divine Feminine in partnership with the Divine Masculine.

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Everything is energy.  The blueprint that we came in with at birth is fully integrated at this deep level of Source – deeply relaxed, open and available with access to an unlimited source of energy.  After years of living in this body we have somehow managed to cover up this innate blueprint with layers and layers of protection, assumptions, beliefs, past traumas, and hiding.

This is not a “bad thing” – it simply is a state of being for survival that we have accepted and perpetuate in our day to day life moments.  This is what my yoga teacher meant by “dropping the body” – simply being aware of and then letting go of anything that is in the way of living from your natural state of being.

Fully inhabiting the breath and clearing away patterns that block this way of being is essential for living life in the deepest and most creative expression that we came in with – resonance with life.  Neglecting the “brain” of the intellect, the heart, the gut, our animalistic rhythms and even the minutest of cells within our body will only bring us to separation from ourselves, others, the natural world and the entire cosmos.

True belonging is embodied, collaborative and cooperative.  We are evolving into Universal Humanity.  Take your place….

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photo(58)  Gaye Abbott, RYT assists individuals to drop the layers that cover the natural innate blueprint we came in with and reveal, through a combination of evolutionary energy work, Jin Shin Jyutus, Reiki and breath re-patterning, the larger purpose and co-creative expression that we are here for.

For those interested in receiving private sessions please contact Gaye at: JoyfulGaye@NaturalPassages.com.  Travel to your location in the U.S. or globally is available.  Please inquire.  Skype: gaye.abbott

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.WildlyFreewoman.com
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Breath-Book-coverW2(1)Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:

http://gayeabbott.com/books/

Breath As A Tap Root

Imagine if you will a very large dance floor where everyone is moving freely in their own rhythm weaving in and out among other bodies in motion.  Sometimes making contact with others by mutual consent to play with movement, dance, touch, and energy – and at other times silently exploring a unique world of your own.

In the very center of this dance floor is a woman who often breaks out in gales of laughter.  People move in and out of her field sometimes connecting physically and other times merely sending her love, smiles or energy – in other words nourishment.  Every time that this woman laughs it sends reverberations throughout the room and smiles break out everywhere.

She is feeding the dance like a “tap root” from which other “roots” sprout laterally out in all directions.  This tap root forms the center upon which rides the well being and growth of all the other roots.  Without it the vitality of the organism as a whole would not continue and new growth might not be supported.

The breath is like a tap root with the lungs on the inside and the air from without giving and receiving within each inhale and exhale.  Our breath grounds us in the present moment and reminds us that we are here to thrive and passionately and compassionately live our lives to the best of our ability.

We share the nourishment with others in a deeply interconnected dance of life that has been choreographed expressly for us by a central force so strong that often we just begin to imagine and embody the power we are being given.  The tap root continually reminds us that a fully lived life is within a fully embodied creative breath.

If you have never even thought about moving freely from the tap root of your breath…you might give it a try.  A breathing space of ecstatic, free, unrestricted movement from the center of your being!

WEBSITE:  www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.NaturalWealthJournal.com
www.WildlyFreeWoman.com