Becoming Infinite

Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite. ~D. Antoinette Foy

Lately, I’ve been feeling some anxiety. Not debilitating or overwhelming, but anxiety is not something I typically experience, so I’ve noticed it and wondered about its source, which has not been immediately clear. Then I’m anxious about not knowing why I’m anxious! (I don’t know how to put emojis in a blog post, but my eyes are rolling!)

What to do? My go to response to such inner disequilibrium is three pronged:

Sit – sit in the backyard, sit on my favorite rock by the creek, sit on my meditation cushion.

Breathe – breathe deeply into my whole body, allowing and receiving breath rather than “taking” a breath.

Expand awareness – allow my attention to soften, disengaging from trying to figure things out, releasing tension as awareness naturally expands as a result of sitting and breathing.

I don’t really need to know what I’m anxious about. “Making” sense of it doesn’t really help me ground and realign. Whatever it is, is lodged in my thoughts. Thoughts, especially anxious thoughts, take us out of the direct experience of this moment. When I sit and breathe, my attachment to my spinning thoughts is released. Awareness naturally expands to take a broader perspective while centered in this present moment. From the perspective of infinity, most anxieties simple disappear, like a drop of rain falling in the ocean.

Sometimes we try to solve thinking problems with more thinking, when the simplest and easiest solution is to loosen thinking’s stronghold on our minds. Our minds are often exhausted by keeping up with all the thought tangles. They appreciate a break now and then!

Next time you are caught up in an anxiety loop, as your mind runs in circles like a hamster on a wheel, maybe try just hopping off the wheel. Do you have some go to methods for restoring peace in a disquieted spirit?