Have you ever thought about the wisdom of the body, how breath happens with no effort at all? The heart pumps blood, stomach digests food, breath happens—so much that we are and do occurs without our conscious effort.

I wonder sometimes if I was more in tune with my body, if my life would be more effortless and easy.

“Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.”

― James Joyce, Dubliners

I go to a weekly yoga class where every week my yoga instructor tells us, “Notice the breath happens without you doing anything.”

She reminds us that there is no need to control the breath, no need to put any effort into our breathing at all. The body does the breathing for us.

Breath Happens

As we relax into each pose, shes suggests that we soften the tiny ridge that goes between our nostrils, soften our eyeballs and let them sink, soften the space between our eyebrows, soften our mouths, and soften our throats.

I find this softening paradoxical. On the one hand I am focusing my attention on different parts of my body and at the same time using my intention to let go—effortlessly.

What does effortless intention feel like?

I liken it to thinking the thought, “Soft eyes,” or “Soft throat,” touching my awareness to my eyes or my throat, and then watching the breath happen—no effort, no drama, no thing for me to do.

Softening can happen just like the breath, when I notice that I am holding tension in a spot I let it go.

There needs to be space in my intention, noticing what is, and deep acceptance of what is, as well as letting go.

Presence, flow, and acceptance are the antithesis of effort, impatience, judgment, and control.

Recently I began applying the idea of effortless intention to other areas of my life.

For example, a while back I got a fitness tracker to track my daily activity levels, with the intention of gradually increasing my activity level. What I experienced using the fitness tracker was a constant desire to increase my daily steps each week, regardless of how I was feeling. My ego got invested in “doing well” and this led to increased pain levels, the exact opposite of what I wanted to have happen.

”Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly.”
— From A Course In Miracles, Foundation For Inner Peace

Wearing the tracker at night to record my sleep actually disturbed my sleep because the pressure of it on my wrist as I moved into different positions often woke me. And the data about how many times I woke up each night was actually stress inducing. I knew that I woke often, but to have the tracker tell me just how often, was disheartening. I quickly stopped wearing it at night, figuring that more data about my sleep was not going to change how well I sleep.

Finally a little more than a week ago I stopped using the fitness tracker during the day as well. No more checking several times a day to see how many steps I have walked, no more pushing myself to do more because I haven’t met my daily goal, no more judging myself because my daily activity level is so low on days when I don’t feel well.

Make Friends With Your Body

Instead of listening to a fitness tracking device, I am listening to my body, and it is wonderful! No more trying to meet my ego’s idea of normal. No more pushing myself into more pain. Yesterday I spent about an hour out photographing with a friend. Today I was out photographing for a couple of hours again. When I noticed myself tiring and one of my feet starting to hurt, I stopped. So easy, yet so difficult.

“The message we give our bodies — one of irritation or acceptance — is the message to which our bodies will answer.”
Deb Shapiro

My massage therapist recently told me that patience was the antidote for intolerance. It surprised me because I had not considered myself to be an intolerant person, although I have often been impatient. As I thought about it, I realized that impatience is a lack of acceptance of what is (or intolerance) and that I am often impatient with and intolerant of my body’s idiosyncrasies. Over and over again I need to remind myself to fully accept my physical self and to stop pushing myself to be like “everyone else” or some external ideal.

Letting go of my fantasy goal of reaching 10,000 steps per day of activity has been so liberating. Listening to and accepting my body instead of listening to what so-called experts say we need to be doing is a lifelong practice that I come back to again and again, noticing one more way that I have been exerting effort where no effort is needed.

What we all need to give our bodies is tender loving care, not impatience and intolerance.

So many messages in our culture suggest that we are not OK as we are, we need to push through pain, work hard, and be like the cultural ideal. My experience tells me that listening, accepting, noticing, and softening are what I need to do to counter those messages.

How about you? Are there parts of your life of which you are intolerant (not accepting fully)? How can you give your body tender loving care? Begin noticing your breath happens all by itself with no effort required.

May you walk in beauty.

Note: Most of the photos in today’s post were made at the Normandale Community College Japanese Garden, Bloomington, MN.

Reflection

Ginkgo Leaf Still Life

Come sit

Pine Swirls

Weeping Willow and Bridge

Girl on bridge