Yoga Etc. (Create new space)
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair
- Khalil Gibran
with each inhale, you create new space
with each exhale, you settle into that space
If you tuned into yoga this week, you’d have seen where I spent the last eight days — on a Portuguese island west of Morocco called Madeira. It’s a beautiful volcanic island with retro lidos, addicting garlic bread, and fog-filled hikes reminiscent of San Francisco. On one day that we were exploring the island, we were winding through narrow roads at the edge of cliffs in a tiny car, and I found myself short of breath.
I was so nervous going up these steep roads on the ridge of these mountains that my Apple Watch assumed I’d been exercising. Then today again, as I boarded the plane to leave Madeira, I felt tight in my chest, and my watch registered irregular activity.
My anxiety comes and goes without warning, and sometimes it makes sense — steep zigzagging roads, check, covid-19 traveling, check. I’ll have months without it, and then like a wave, it all of a sudden crashes into my body: tight chest, pit in stomach, clenched jaw.
If you’ve taken a yoga class with me, you’ve probably heard me say a variation of the above a few times. With each new breath in, you find new space, and with every breath out, you step into that space. The physicality of this concept is what usually shows up first — inhaling to lengthen the body and exhaling to go a little bit deeper. It’s an incredibly useful and beautiful thing to see how our breath can inform our movement (one of my favorite things about yoga), and it also serves a more subtle purpose within our emotional selves.
I use this breathwork and meditation practice to help me get grounded and present whenever that wave crashes onto my shore. At the root of my anxiety is this feeling of being out of control, out of my body, and somewhere between the past and future (but never the present).
And there’s something about combining my breath with these two phrases that make this practice so helpful to me. By repeating these words guided by my breath, I’m able to make space for myself emotionally so that I can make sense of, label, and ultimately let go of what I’m holding onto.
I breathe in to make space for myself.
I breathe out to acknowledge that I am here.
I breathe in to honor all that I am feeling.
I breathe out to welcome whatever comes my way.
I breathe in this moment.
I breathe out understanding.
I accept.
I let go.
In a time where we’re all zigzagging between feelings of happiness and hopelessness, and passing by everything in between, I hope this practice brings you some ease.
Let me know what you think and if you have any other ways of working through anxiety. We’re all in this together, and I’d love to hear from you.
Weekly writing prompt
- write about the borrowed item you still have in your possession and why (10 minutes)
Other musings
- In-depth: Breonna Taylor was changing her life
- 2020 is the new 1965
- The world’s biggest rooftop greenhouse is in a converted Sears warehouse
- Fall food is the best food
- Want: a mystical painting by Merakilabbe
- “The idea of doing less is just not coded into high-achieving people’s sense of self”
- The cure for boredom is curiosity; there is no cure for curiosity
- On repeat: hozier x destiny’s child
This is the yoga etc., a weekly newsletter exploring mindful movement and mindful personal development in a busy world, written by me, Laura B. Childs, writer, teacher, and friend. You can subscribe to yoga etc. here.
