A reflection on the power of a mantra or the breath

Greetings from D.C.

I apologize for sending this note so late in the afternoon. I experienced a few minor distractions this morning as I was leaving Harrisonburg (VA) after a mini two-day, self-care retreat. Having lost power unexpectedly at my Airbnb, I then experienced connectivity issues at the local coffee shop. As I felt my nemesis, Stress, start to invite herself inside, I looked up and saw the sandwich board outside the cafe.

On one side, it read:

In the midst of the chaos lies opportunity.

On the other side:

Your worth is not measured by your productivity.

Hello?!? Yes! These messages were exactly what I needed at that exact moment to invite myself back to the present and to remember that these inconveniences were simply that—inconveniences (and minor at that). They themselves did not have the power to change my mood or to determine my self-worth. I alone could yield that power to them…and why would I choose to do that?

Words overall—be them constructed in a mantra, the lyrics of a song, a poem, a quote—can be both inspirational and aspirational at our most primal level. There is a reason we sometimes use mantras to help slow down the brain and create more space for the body, breath and mind; it is our invitation for calmness and steadiness—versus stress and reactivity—to fill this expansion.

We can use the breath for this, too. Yesterday, during my morning hike of Fridley Gap in the George Washington National Forest, my alarm went off at 10a to remind myself to breathe (as I’ve programmed my alarm to do every four hours). I have never experienced what happened next; the best analogy is that my brain became like a white noise machine. The constant chatter of my mind instantaneously stopped and was replaced by this feeling of space, of expansion, of pure awareness—of the present moment.

Sutra 1.2 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras ~ Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah ~ yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind

I was conscious of that which was around me and within me—from the sounds of the insect buzzing right in front of my eye to the woodpecker in the far distance to the creek I had just crossed; from the sensations of the bead of sweat running down my cheek to the slight unevenness of my CamelBak to the pulsations under the pads of my feet. It was exhilarating.

The world is chaotic right now. Let us not give in to the chaos but rather let us give rise to the opportunities that abound. And let us remind ourselves daily that our self-worth comes from within rather than from any external factor. I’m here if you need me.

With gratitude,

XO

PS—the breathing technique again. Every four hours, spend two minutes focused on your breath—inhaling for a count of four, holding at the top of the inhale for four, exhaling for a count of four, holding at the bottom of the exhale for four. Try it! Let me know what you experience.