Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh was asked, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?”
“I allowed my self to breathe,” he answered. “And then I said, ‘What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick and you will not be able to help.'”
To that end, I want to offer you a short, impactful practice – just five minutes long – that can pull you out of a bad feeling place.
Yes, we can’t always control what happens to us. But we can control how we respond to it, how we react to it and what we do from there on out. And that’s a lot of power and that’s a lot of control actually.
So I invite you to engage with this short, potent practice that includes a self-care breath and grounding mudra.
Do it any time you feel the call, and it will be good medicine. I promise.
With Love,
Becca
i feel better, slightly airy in my head. calmer.
Thank you!
i will try it again and some of your other breathwork.
You are so real!
Christina 💖 Thank you for your kind words
Yes! that airy feeling is the endorphins charging through your system eating the stress hormones! It feels SO good!
I do invite you to keep it up! An everyday practice will prolong these extraordinary states! You can go to my Free Practices page to choose to work on whatever emotions is knocking loudest on your head! Let me know how it goes! 🤠
Practice page: https://beccawilliams.org/free-practices/#videos
Nancy and I both tried this and it helps but I still feel trapped in some dystopian sci-fi novel (Philip K Dick?).
I would ask you both questions. What does “feel trapped” mean?
I’d ask you to extrapolate what you’re dreading? And with each answer you’d give, I’d ask “why?” Why do you feel that way?
Why do you feel that way?
Why do you feel that way?
See what comes up but keep answering the question until you’ve exhausted it.
… and share it with me if you’re up for it. 💚
xoBecca
Thank you Becca, Nancy and I talked some more and I remembered I’m the guy who practices breath control each morning to feel more like TNH quoted above. How much of the external world will affect us in the coming years? Unknown, as you so accurately point out, but it will be our job to endure, take care of our health and thrive in spite of everything.❤️
David, all of us can get pushed off-center (with both personal and global drama). The practice is in the remembering (re-membering), which you have just done! 🎯