◄ by Andrew Horwood – Hillier, South Australia ►
Our lives depend upon reflexes. Reflexes mean we don’t have to consciously think about what our body needs to do next. They help us breathe, digest food, regulate our body temperature, pump blood, fight infections and many other functions. They make life easier for us in so many ways!
During my recent time in USA, I learnt about dysfunctional breathing and the many ways in which this can show up in our lives. The nub of it is this – people have lost trust that the breathing reflexes will be sufficient for them and they have learnt to take control of their breathing. This results in chemical changes in the body which in turn cause a wide variety of symptoms which can severely limit their life experience. The way out of this is to learn to trust the breathing reflexes again. Interesting, isn’t it? Losing trust in our inbuilt reflexes results in a lesser life experience.
We humans spend alot of time wondering about, and searching for, the purpose and meaning of our lives. Could it be that we have lost touch with the natural reflex that IS our life? I believe this is so.
We are made in the image and likeness of the Creator. The only creative power in the universe is the power of Love. We are made for Love – to let Love live our lives. Just look at babies – they are filled with unconditional love oozing out of them. That’s the reflex that’s most natural to us.
But things happen to us such that we learn not to trust that reflex. And just like our breathing, what’s required of us personally is to trust the Love reflex again – that’s the only way to live a fulfilling life.
When we live like this, we discover that Love is ambitious. Ambition means to extend an influence. Love wants to extend its influence in the world – through us. And unlike human ambition, which may be “I win at your expense”, Love’s ambition results in everyone feeling good. It’s truly a win-win-win situation.
Let us remember that we’re born with a Love reflex. Let us commit to letting Love live our lives. And let’s let Love’s ambition fill the world!
Dear Andrew: Your post arrived on my desktop at the beginning of my workday and surely set a tone for the entire day. Recently I have been re-visiting work with the breath and its support and meaning in my life. Having come from the label “shallow breather”, I am finding how the field opens as I breathe more deeply/take life in more fully. In the process, it seems at moments life is taking ME in more fully.
Your notations about trust – chemical changes that can be influenced in the body by the depth and quality of our breathing – and speaking to the part we are of Creation and how the outflow of that is Love. I have experienced that in many ways… sharing Attunement… putting my hands in clay and creating… blending with a natural setting as I may be hiking or kayaking. More recently I remind myself, that THIS is me LIVING my life, more so than any checkmarks I may make on my list of “to do’s” at work or home; if I am not moment to moment in this essence of Love, I feel less than fully alive. It is this that has begun to guide me toward whatever is next. I am finding, if I am in the every moment-ness of Love in the Creator’s presence, the “whatever is next” pieces emerge in lovely little bits of inspiration and knowings. It is very different from “going out and finding it”… softer, kinder, gentler and somehow more in flow it seems, with the energies of Creation. This energy naturally invites trust so I find myself trusting into the next moment and the next, until I notice I am somewhere else in Love’s presence.
Love as ambitious? I’ve never thought of it quite this way… yet can totally be in the flow of extending Love into the world, watching the win-win emerge. Thank you for your beautiful reminder of our “Love reflex” and welcoming its prominent presence in our lives. Your experience and expression is deeply moving. Sincerely, Bonnie Jo (Radasch)
Andrew,
I recall back in my early days of study at Green Pastures, several of us under the tutorage of Soma Hunter would run each morning, do some Ti Chi and work with natural breathing. I learned to breathe out with the muscles in my abdomen and then let the natural in-breath I think you are referring to, rush in. It worked great when I did it consciously. I will work with this again and see if it will naturally become reflexive. Thank you for reminding us of this important pattern.
amen…