Sunday Snippet: The Deep Sigh Edition

Every morning, I meditate. I sit in the wing chair in the dark living room, and I use an app called Insight Timer to begin each day. I find that the meditations offered there help me get through the day. One of the things the teachers there talk about is our breath. How we breathe affects so much of how we feel. When Husband and I took a yoga class several years, we learned to focus on “the breath.” That was where I learned the in for four, hold for four, out for four, which I depend on when the world goes mad and I feel like screaming. The instructors on Insight Timer teach the same practice.

One of them, not sure who, also teaches sighing–taking a deep breath and then simply sighing out stress, frustration, anger, pain, overwhelm, dread, fear. Whatever is eating at you–just sigh it out.

Now, I confess, I sometimes have the attention span of a very small child so focusing on a 20-minute meditation is still too much for me every morning. Normally, I can last for about ten before my mind starts to wander into what the day might hold for me. I’m learning to come back to the breath to refocus, but so far ten minutes is pretty much my limit.

But that ten minutes first thing in the morning before coffee, before I even turn on lights in the living room or my office centers me enough to start my day with peace in my soul. If I drift away from that peace as the day progresses, I close my eyes and do the big sigh. Sometimes three or four big sighs. It helps. Even in the midst of all the dread and stark cold fear that I’m experiencing over the election and what is following, I can breathe deeply, hold, release. I can sigh out the panic and recenter.

Try it–it doesn’t have to be with a meditation app or cross-legged in a yoga pose on the floor. Whatever meditation is for you–prayer, devotions, music, walking, or simply sitting quietly for a few moments and being inside yourself–allow yourself the freedom of a big sigh.

Gratitude for this week: A successful trip to the dentist–cleaning, no cavities, and crown prep went well; Walks in the ‘hood with Mary under beautiful fall sky; the sweet gum trees in the ‘hood are gorgeous in their wild variety of colors; I still have lavender blooming; Got to have my lake buddy Mo with us for a couple days while she had doc appointments here in the city. 

Stay well, stay safe (Vaccines are a miracle!), choose kindness this week, and most of all, mes amis, always stay grateful,