Flow

You have been breathing all the live long day. You have been breathing your entire life. But now is a chance to pay attention to that life-giving breath. Inhale. You are alive. Exhale. You are here. Now. Welcome to a Hit of Hope. I just got done teaching an online yoga class that I called “slow flow.” In it, I asked my students to flow... slowly... through the postures and the practice.

Transcript

You have been breathing all the live long day.

You've been breathing your entire life.

But now is a chance to pay attention to that life giving breath.

Inhale.

You are alive.

Exhale.

You are here.

Now.

Welcome to a hit of hope.

I just got done teaching an online yoga class that I called Slow Flow.

In it,

I asked my students to flow slowly like molasses through the postures and the practice.

I was the one leading the class,

Mind you,

And more than once I caught myself thinking,

Oh my God,

Can we please just move?

I was sure I wanted to flow,

But in reality,

What I really wanted was to rush to get it done.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I invite you to bring your pinky fingers and your thumbs together,

If possible,

And rest the backs of your hands on your knees or legs.

Inhale.

Exhale.

What you are doing with your hands is called Jala Mudra,

And it's supposed to evoke water flowing easily.

Life goes so much better when we flow.

But again,

Let's not confuse flow with rush.

When we rush,

We create momentum.

We up the quantity of motion in a moving body.

Momentum can be fine.

It helps keep us going.

But life lived with momentum can sometimes feel like,

Gotta get it done,

Gotta move,

Gotta do more,

Be more,

Achieve.

When?

Get out of my way.

Flow invites us to focus on the quality of our motion,

Moving with intention,

Free from tumult and agitation.

How do we do that?

Inhale.

Exhale.

And we bring our breath into our bodies and our minds to our breath.

It's not perfect,

Mind you,

But staying connected to our breath and moving with a mind focused on quality rather than quantity can help us flow.

And we can pass the infarctions in our lives,

Those persistent blockages that pop up all of the time.

Think of it this way.

Momentum can sometimes leave a person feeling like you are rushing through your life.

Your body is a car and your mind is a driver who is late.

Gotta get there,

Gotta get there.

If you meet a blockage,

A parked semi,

If you will,

Well,

You can imagine the impact.

I grew up beside a little creek and I loved watching the minnows with their silver flashing bellies.

When the cloud of them came upon,

Say,

A boulder,

They easily slipped around it and on they went.

That's flow.

Inhale.

Exhale.

It's hard to let go of rush.

We've been conditioned to think that's the best way to live.

Feel your breath flowing in and flowing out of your body.

Feel the minnow inside your spirit,

Ready and willing to move with grace and ease,

Letting your shining body slip past life's blockages.

And on you flow.

Namaste.

Reviews

Oh my...another new amazing teacher discovery! I loved this, thank you!🌊

🌊💜✨

This really spoke to me, just what I needed to hear (without knowing). Thank you Betsy for planting the seed of flowing with grace! 💧🙏🏼

Thank you. You are a true inspiration to me. I absolutely enjoy your work🥀

Always glad to get direction from you! It's always grounded and honest. Thank you. 👍❤

Very insightful, thank you. Love and blessings 💙 x

Excellent message. Words to live by. Thanks, Betsy! May you flow through your day with grace and ease. From a fellow yoga teacher. 😊🙏❤

Just the message I needed to hear

Thanks for the reminder that it's not only ok to slow down, it's preferable. Between work and my new home duties in these unusual days, I always feel that "The hurrierer I go, the behinder I get." No wonder I'm exhausted, I'm fighting upstream instead of allowing it all to flow. I can't do it all and I don't have to. A much appreciated and timely reminder ❤️

Thank you so much for this. Lately I feel like I've been rushing through my life, which scares me. But the idea of "flow" keeps coming to me, so I'll go with it. I loved the minnows 🐟

This was great, Betsy! The word, ‘flow,’ seems to be coming up a lot in my daily life and I had a dream last night of taps that were turned on and the water flowing. I took seeing this meditation as a sign! 🙏

After this, I felt perfectly calm, content and centered. Thanks Betsy, I love you.

As usual betsy is the gift that keeps on giving! That was great!

Had to laugh - I just woke up (late) and though in a rush, I saw you had a new recording out so I decided to listen as I tried to orient myself to the day and what I needed to do.

See, I had foot surgery 5 days ago, and every morning, I've woken up early with my foot on fire, the pain meds having worn off and the TENS unit underthe dressing providing barely tolerable relief (except for yesterday when I woke up with the unit's batteries having died overnight). But I have a virtual conference to attend, starting in less than an hour. I got to bed late, doubled up on pain meds and ensured the batteries were good and strong, etc, so I could be well rested. Didn't bother with an alarm - I've woken up well ahead of time everyday, after all.

Not today. Woke up at 10:05 am. Pain okay, but took my meds, and now I need to try to get dressed and relocated downstairs, possibly moving my equipment in less than 45 minutes. I can do it. But I was flustered when I woke up, quite frankly.

I was going to put on some upbeat music to help, but as I said, I saw you'd uploaded something and the topic seemed (as usual) to be spot on for my needs. So it was. Go slow. Don't rush. Rushing leads me to make mistakes. Always has.

I have, my whole life, moved either at supersonic or tortoise speed. When I move too fast, not only do I make mistakes, but things happen do fast that I forget I did them or that they happened. I deliberately have to stop myself, LOOK at what I am doing, and blink slowly, pretending that my eyelids are the shutter of a camera, taking a mental photograph of how things are in that moment do I am not later agued with those "did I remember to turn off the light/lock the door/turn off the oven/put the leftovers away?" type questions.

This is part of what drew me to the practice of Tai Chi in college over other martial arts. Slow flow. Learn how it feels to FEEL how I move. Observe what's around me as I move. This is also what led me to my ongoing practices if contemplative photography, shinrin yoku, and general meditative/mindful walking.

As I have deliberately taken time to stop and write this, time has not stopped. But my mind has fully awakened. I have taken all but one medication (located elsewhere), identified the items I need to bring downstairs with me with a slow, deliberate glance around the room, and determined what shirt to wear. I might leave the PJ bottoms on, as it's achaenge to get them over the surgical boot and they ARE quite comfy. But I know what I'm doing and the most efficient way to get there. No more "ohmygoshineedtohurryup" mode for me now. ☺️

Thank you, as always, for your wisdom and willingness to share it with others, Betsy. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻

Good morning Betsy ..this is exactly what I need ..thank you so much I go through life always rushing doing my everyday chores always like there is no tomorrow.. I need to slow down.. this was perfect for me..I just need to practice it everyday,have a blessed day!

Beautiful! Thank you, Betsy. My husband and I moved from MN to IN, and after one month in our new home, I still have SO much more unpacking to do. We moved here to be near my elderly parents who still live in their own home. Your meditation makes me more grateful for this precious time with my parents. The boxes WILL get unpacked eventually, that task WILL get done. But I don't know how much more time I will have with my parents. I will be the little minnow and flow with what is. Namaste.

Thank you for yet again telling me just want I needed to hear! I had been stuck in the rush to just get my things done. Thank you for the gentle reminder to flow and focus on life. To see things I will miss in the rush to just get it done.

Perfect analogy! As a person who does tend to rush throughout my day, I do hit those "semi trucks" from time to time. Slowing down and becoming aware of my breath brings me to a more "minnow-like" state, allowing me to navigate life's obstacles and be more productive.

The little flowing minnow in me sees the little flowing minnow in you. 🐟

(I was, very irrationally, I know, afraid that I’d jinxed you by mentioning my admiration for the quality and quantity of your ideas 😄) My husband and I are both slow workers. I don’t think it bothers him, or if he even considers himself slow, but it tears me apart with frustration, anxiety, and anger that I don’t get done even half — Hell, one quarter! — of what I think I should and/or that I want to do. I have the same emotions about him not getting things done as far as household tasks and the like. The two good things I see about my slowness are that I’ve been good at noticing and appreciating small things since I was a preteen (if not younger), and that I’m a good copy editor (very helpful since my husband is a professor and a writer) and I dabbled in writing a bit. You’ve given me a whole ‘nother way of looking at it. Maybe it’s okay that I often pause and just... sometimes think, and sometimes just... sit. And be. I just realized that one of the things I love most about your talks is that in almost every one you give me a new idea, a new way of looking at the world, even as I’m right there with you, understanding what you mean, really feeling it. Maybe this will help cool off some of my anger and frustration. Thank you again and again.