Driving to work
Past fields and hedges and trees without leaves,
The distant fells of the Lake District,
A milky opalescent dawn sky,
And I feel so happy
And I think, if I could send a message
To my younger self
I would say
‘Relax
I know things don’t feel easy.
But it will all work out in the end.
Take it one step at a time, don’t worry so much.
Life still has its ups and downs,
But the view from here is worth it.’
Weather and circumstance have conspired recently to keep my walks short
but today I was out for hours.
And now I am weary, that lovely tiredness of the body;
heavy limbs and aching muscles
thankful for a day outside
in the sun and frost.
Mind relaxed, soul nourished
by the long views of the fells and the sea,
clear blue skies and the orange glow of bracken.
Lungs full of fresh air,
I’ll sleep well tonight.
Doing tai chi while imagining the air is like water, as if you are doing tai chi under water, is a way of deepening relaxation.
–
Imagining, as I move, that the air feels like water.
My arms float,
My body is supported.
If I concentrate, I can feel the air like water against my back.
My legs; heavy.
Movement becomes more deliberate,
The sense of the air like water surrounding me
Filling in behind me as I move forward.
I become aware of all of the surfaces of my arm as it moves into posture,
The movement of my arm through space.
I try to expand my awareness to my whole body,
To feel the air like water touching every part of me,
Don’t quite get there,
Still sensing my body as individual parts; hand, arm, leg, back.
This is my practice today;
Air like water.
This year, I want to spend more time in my body
And less time in my head.
Listening, relaxing, softening
Being here now,
In this present moment,
Breaking the habit of a lifetime.
–
Happy New Year.
☺
Pause in this moment
Between the out-breath and the in-breath
On the shortest day
And feel the seasons turning
When you open the office door in the morning to be greeted by beige and grey,
Dry warm air and the smell of computers
And yesterday’s lunches
And your heart sinks, shrivels and goes into hiding.
–
When your desk and the space around you is the smallest size it could legally be,
When you have no choice of whether or not you can sit by the window
And anyway the window might not even open,
And the view, if you have one, is the side of another office, or a road, or a block of flats.
–
When your senses are assaulted by the sound of phonecalls and the tapping of keyboards
And you feel yourself shrinking, contracting, trying block it all out,
And you wonder why you can’t concentrate,
And your mind runs around on the same old wheels, dreaming of a way out.
–
When others around you are beavering away
Seemingly oblivious to the distractions and ugliness,
And you wonder what is wrong with you and why you don’t fit in
And how on earth you can cope with this for another 30 years.
–
When you sit in a room with 50 people, but barely have a conversation for fear of creating too much noise,
And you feel trapped in a cage,
And you think you must be too sensitive, not good enough, not trying hard enough,
Just remember, escape is possible.
–
You’ve got the open plan office blues.
–
(Yes, I’ve been there, and yes, I did escape!)
Here, in this moment,
Stop and feel what it might mean to relax.
To allow the heaviness of your leg to reveal itself,
To sense the tension in your belly, and then feel it melt away.
So simple, and yet so difficult.
_
Let your awareness rest in your hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders.
Feel the living, breathing body that you are.
Become part of it, with all its tensions and imperfections,
Let it speak to you, tell you what it needs
Let your mind rest, just below your navel.
_
Breathe.
_
We are born knowing this, and we loose it
Chasing our minds into another place,
Losing ourselves, body clothed in
Fear. Tension. Armour.
_
Breathe.
_
Back to the beginning.
Here in this moment,
Relax.
Life in the Fresh Air 