Plunge into Calm
Happy Tuesday! Here's what's inspiring me this week...
Breathe.
The other day I picked up a little breath book at Half Price Books on my way to lunch with a friend. While it's not my favorite breath book I've ever read, it does have some really cool illustrations. Drawings like this are very satisfying to the engineer in me.
This practice is simply starting with a 5 second inhale and 5 second exhale, then gradually elongate your exhale. Find your edge where you aren't stretched too thin, then maintain it for 5 minutes. This would be a great practice to do before bed or anytime you need to calm down and relax.
Move.
Talk about the "hope molecules" are all the rage in my corner of instagram this month. These molecules, otherwise known as myokines, are released into the bloodstream when muscles contract. These small proteins travel to the brain, cross the blood-brain barrier, and act as an antidepressant.
I strongly dislike the trendy saying, "Movement is medicine." Movement is not medicine. However, in some cases, it’s equally, if not more, effective.
Be Human.
A single simple message keeps appearing in every spiritual or personal development book I read: Stop Thinking.
“The root cause of our suffering is our own thinking.”
― Joseph Nguyen, Don't Believe Everything You Think
"Think less, do more"
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
"What upsets people is not what happened to them, but thinking about what happened."
― Martha Beck, The Way of Integrity
If you are like me and immediately reject this notion because "who even are we without thinking?!", use this framework moving forward:
Thoughts (noun): something we have, not something we do and are inherently neutral
Thinking (verb): is something we do with our thoughts, and is what makes them good or bad and lead to suffering.
"Thoughts create, Thinking destroys."
― Joseph Nguyen, Don't Believe Everything You Think
Thinking pervades almost everything we do without noticing it. Without thinking, emotions are fleeting and fears are disarmed. We will inevitably encounter challenging life events, but we don’t have to think about them. We can set boundaries, take action, and respond accordingly, but we don’t have to think.
Phrases like "think before you speak" should probably be reframed as "question your thinking before you speak" or "pause and stop thinking before you speak." Our natural state is that of contentment, patience, compassion, and boundless love. Our thinking pulls us out of this state.
"Stop doing everything you do mentally. I know you're concerned what's going to happen to you if you stop thinking. You'll always be taken care of. You'll get all the things you need."
― Robert Adams, Silence of the Heart
Upcoming Events
Next Plunge into Calm will be on Saturday, October 26th. Fingers crossed my chiller will be fixed, if not we will have to do it the old school way again.
What I'm currently reading
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Silence of the Heart by Robert Adams
The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck
Under Water: How Holding My Breath Taught Me to Live by Claire Walsh
Are you a read one book at a time person or read five at a time like me?!I
Podcast this week
This is a great episode on when we should and should not trust our intuition.
