Hey there,
Take a moment,
A moment to settle,
To draw your breath in,
To let it go.
Do you ever feel like a dog?
A dog with its hackles up,
That maybe your first instinct with life is to growl.
If that feels familiar,
If you find your shoulders up around your ears,
If you find yourself barking whenever you open your mouth,
It's okay.
Life is kind of meant to make us growl,
And yet we know that can affect things.
So,
If you find yourself feeling like a dog with those hackles up,
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale,
Let it go.
And keep allowing that breath to gently ride in and out as you drop your shoulders,
As you let everything grow soft.
Breathe and soften,
Soften and settle,
Let the mind quiet.
Now,
If your mind is like mine,
It might start to bark.
Maybe it's saying,
I can't settle.
Maybe it's saying,
But people are so annoying.
I hear you,
I really do.
And,
Like a dog,
Our minds want to work.
They want to protect us from what might be out there.
Our minds,
Our thoughts,
They want to keep us safe.
So they bark,
They growl.
Sometimes,
Our minds even sink their teeth into the soft things and tear them apart.
Stop the growl,
The teeth.
Soften your body and drop into your center.
When you find yourself on guard,
When you want to fight what is,
Pause.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
When your insides get howling and growling,
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Fall back into that breath.
Let everything settle.
May you live light and shine.
