Alex Grey - Sacred Mirrors
How You do Anything is How You Do Everything & How We Breathe is How we Live our Lives …
These statements express a basic principle of Mind Body Integration. These ideas are explained the Ancient Wisdom teachings of Yoga & Ayurveda which are thousands of years old. Ayurveda tells us that if we have an imbalance in one area, unless we address the imbalance it will eventually show up in other areas. Conversely if we consciously make choices to create balance in one area it will show up in other areas. We do this all of the time either consciously or unconsciously. The first step to correcting an imbalance is awareness.
How you breathe is how you live your life. Breath awareness is very important in the practice of yoga. The breath is considered the bridge between the body and the mind. If we do not take full and complete breaths, exhaling fully and completely, then our bodies will not release into our full expression of the posture. I ask my students when they notice they are struggling with a pose, not to force, but instead to bring their awareness back to their breath. Often they will notice that they are no longer breathing fully and completely. When they bring their awareness back to the breath and take a full inhale they will notice on a full exhale their body naturally releases more deeply into the pose. To take this idea “off the mat”, I remind them if they notice during their day they are stressed or struggling, to bring their awareness to their breath. A few full and complete breaths will often release their stress, relax them and change their emotional state.
Further examples of how this may show up follow …
- Someone who is protecting their heart at an emotional level may have a posture with rounded or hunched shoulders.
- Someone who is stiff and inflexible in their body may also be inflexible in their minds, resistant to change or new ideas.
- The person who tends to hold onto things that are no longer useful to them may not only have closets crammed full of clothes they haven’t worn in years; they may tend to hold onto extra weight they do not need, or stay in relationships that are no longer serving them.
The examples above are simple ones. At a deeper level if we hold onto negative emotions and experiences they eventually become toxic and manifest as disease in our body.
- A person with a broken heart may increase their risk for a Cardiac Accident by not addressing their feelings.
- A person who holds onto toxic emotions such as anger and resentment increases their risk for developing cancer or other diseases.
Recall the expression, “he’ll bust a gut over that”, referring to someone who holds onto anger and hostility? I know someone who was referred to in just that way because he held onto a lot of anger and hostility, and sure enough he did, literally, “bust a gut” and almost died when it happened. Holding onto anger and hostility, he literally imploded!
Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. Because of this I frequently say that “Everything Is an Inside Job.” Check out this website that was just created which will discuss just that: www.EverythingIsAnInsideJob.com Our thoughts and emotions frequently show up in our body or our physical environment. We are not just physical beings. Instead we are multi-dimensional beings with physical, mental and spiritual aspects. It is not unusual for our experiences on one level influence or show up in other areas.
