Breathe Deep , Slow Down (Kiss 27)

Another life time ago, a time when I had been living and working in London. I took some time off, to travel to Brazil. I flew into Rio at night and the following day, I went in search of a bank or exchange where I could change my money over to Brazilian Real.

In the end I went into a bank and joined the queue so that I could speak to a Teller. The queue wasn't really moving and I found myself getting irritable, by how long I had to wait. I mean I was used to the pace of London, where everything moved so fast.

Why wasn't it the same here, in this city. I found myself getting annoyed that so many people seemed to be chatting, including the tellers with the customers. Didn't they all realize, that I had business to do.

Then it hit me, how much the life I was living, had changed me. I went from a country girl, to a city living lass, who had been worn down, finally succumbing to this fast pace of life.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself, that I was in fact on holiday. That there was no reason to rush. That I had all the time in the world.

My shoulders dropped and just like that, I felt my stress slip away. Each breath, allowing me to more present, to slow down and really take in my surroundings. Instead of focusing on what I had been feeling. To let to energy of those around me, wash over me.

It was just, the wake up call that I needed.

To make me reflect more on the life that I was living. So that I could finally begin to realize, how unhappy I actually was. I didn't want to be that person, who rushes around, missing out on so much, missing out on life, because my life was all laid out in front of me. A life, that I was starting to feel trapped in.

There was so much more to life than this.

There was a whole other life for me to live. A life, that was a lot more true to who I was.

Breathing deep, with my eyes closed. Allowing myself to sink into the ground, to feel my roots traveling deep, into the earth. I feel connected. Tapping into the natural rhythm, that ties us all together.

It is my breath, that has the power to slow me down.

To make me take count of what really matters, whenever I feel overwhelmed.

When we are feeling stressed or rushed, our breathing speeds up, to match our heart rate. It happens without us even realizing sometimes. Until suddenly we no longer breathe s deeply as we should nd instead, our breath is shallow.

The breath is so powerful. It helps us connect more deeply with ourselves. It's what helped me wake up to my true calling. To step out of the system and choose a simpler way of life.

But that doesn't mean, my life never gets too fast. Life is so unpredictable, and being a single mama, means I have moments when I do feel overwhelmed. And yes I have ways in which I can overcome that feeling, activities that I do, places I like to go.
Music that I love to listen to.

But it always starts with the breath.

breathe
anchoring myself to the ground
trickles of energy
calling on me to to explore
to take this time
to journey deep and restore
delving deep
into the depths
of my core
unearthing
my potential
allowing myself to soar.

This is my response to the latest Kiss challenge, by the wonderful Minimalist Community. Inviting us to share what we have learnt in life. This week it is all about how we slow down, so that we can really focus on what we need to do.

For me that means connecting with my inner self and not reacting to what is going on around me. To dig deep and open myself up to the world around me.