snapshots… and an antidote…

posted in: snapshots | 9

 

Eggs are as photogenic as coffee. Don’t you think? As the winter wears on, fresh eggs become a little harder to come by and usually sell out within hours at our little organic markets. Those hens must be feeling as giddy as me about all the spring like weather, because they are sure giving our little town more eggs again.

 

This week I am thinking a lot about vitality and youthfulness, and what allows one to maintain that. Since I was pretty small, I have always imagined myself living to a very old age and maintaining a certain youthful, active, childlikeness. Could be idealized, wishful thinking – but I don’t think there is any reason why that should not be possible. Steven and I had some interesting conversation on the topic the other night, and my favorite part of our conversation was the idea of bringing energy to the body – basically, to keep one’s vital energy flowing through all the parts of oneself. This is not a new concept, and there are many ways to do this, but I think maybe the easiest way is to simply put your attention on the part of the body that feels tired, or stiff, or sluggish, or even the parts of the scalp that are growing gray hairs, or to the skin that is showing age from years of sun exposure – and to send vital energy to that part. Hold it in mind and massage it with your breath, use your intent, how ever it works for you… I am going to start actively doing this as much as possible.

 

Another part of our conversation I really liked was related to stress. Stress is so hard on the body. I never used to do stress, but I find it has crept it’s way into my life in the past couple years. There was a point a couple months ago where I was so stiff and worn down with stress and tension, and let me tell you – it is awful. Totally harmful. We decided that when ever there is a situation where stress comes up, to use that as a cue to INSTEAD send vital energy to some part of the body. Convert the toxic stress to healing energy. Imagine if we replaced all our stressful moments, thoughts and feelings, with actions that actually heal us instead of harm us. So simple, yet so profound. Last night I had my first chance to do so! I was breaking threads every other seam. Normally I would have gotten irritated or frustrated. Ding ding ding! there’s my cue… Instead, I took a deep breath, filled my chest with air and imagined that air expanding out through my body as relaxing energy. Totally bonehead simple awesome!

 

And finally, I leave you with an amazing technique I recently learned from a very wise man 🙂 Here it is in his words. Ready?

“Have you ever been frustrated, pissed off or upset in any way? Depressed, down trodden or knee deep in you know what? Even for a moment? I came up for a cure for that moment…
All you have to do is MOO and MOO as loud and you can, as long as you need to. It is usually a very short amount of time until you burst out laughing, no matter how mad (etc) you might have been. Try it, you will like it.”

I have tried it, and it really really works!

9 Responses

  1. O.

    Thanks for that advice about “MOO” thing. I will definitely try it! And I know it will be soon.

  2. Valentina

    Did you ever try Qigong? We’re (Big Bear and I) trying it in these days and it is totally related to what you describe. We make a 20-25 minutes workout every morning and it includes a sort of “slapping” on your arms, belly, legs. It surely reinvigorate body and soul and you have a clear sensation of energy circulating. At the end of the workout you throw out of your mouth your breath totally, making funny expressions, just like you were screaming {sorry for my always poor english…}. It works wonderfully!

  3. Elisa

    I was feeling very stressed yesterday and was focusing on all the things that I was not happy with in my life. After feeling quite bad for a while a thought came into my mind that immediately lifted my spirits. The thought was about all the wonderful things in my life and I immediately became so thankful for all the those things. The things that were making me unhappy started to look so much smaller and manageable. Wishing you many stress-free and happy days doing all the things you love Abby!

  4. Deni

    I LOVE it Abby! It’s just what I needed to hear. Just thinking about Mooing makes me smile! : )

  5. liane

    abby, i love that you and steven have these sorts of conversations. thanks for the ideas. except, the mooing one…not sure if this will work for me as i will be mooing A LOT. it may have social implications… 😉

  6. marri

    i love this. i actually do this myself when i’m stressed, but i never thought of it as sending vital energy to parts of my body that need it – take a deep breath, close my eyes, focus on some part of my physical being and send love and energy to it. i love how you put it!

    and i’m going to have to try the moo thing!

  7. Ellie - Petalplum

    I can hear the MOOing from here!!
    A long time ago, when we were kids, someone told us we have to tickle my mum every single day, to make her laugh and laugh. We loved that idea. {my mum was one of those people who took on everyone else’s energies and worries and added them to her own}.

    I’ve been doing the breathing myself a lot lately too. It helps so much. To be conscious and focussed on having a true deep breathe. It makes me stop and be. Not in my head. In my body and soul.
    Also – I remember my dad telling me that you can’t yell and scream when you’re breathing into your stomach. Something to remember next time I want to yell at the kids – a deep breathe and I physically can’t yell.

    Love your egg photo – they are super photogenic aren’t they!

    Enjoy your day xxx

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