Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. -Hilary Cooper....
Since the age of 13 and my first Tap class I have loved to move. My mother says I was always happy to walk miles even from small, apparently I also had a certifiable Great aunt who also liked to walk everywhere but more of that later, perhaps it's in the blood or perhaps I just haven't worked out where I'm trying to get to yet? In any case I love to move, I like to fidget and I get distracted easily. I should clarify I do not like to move fast (I'm not keen on sweating or over heating) but I can always find something to do, it might just take me a while to get there.
And so there is some irony in the fact that I managed a career as a Dancer and now teach Pilates without actually breathing for most of it. I cue it, I discuss it, I understand its importance, I just don't do it! There I've said it and its out there, I do not like to breathe deeply and now I finally know why. I recently sat in on a breathing seminar and had one of those lightening bolt moments whilst looking at the size and structure of the diaphragm and suddenly it hit me. I'd been trying to control that muscle like everything else, within an inch of its very important life. But when we limit this delicious, fabulous muscle we limit all our other muscles too, and then wander why our bodies ache?! In an effort to control, redefine and perfect I have been only giving myself half a chance of really feeling the benefits that breathing and living can bring. Depressed people take less breathes, people in love with life take more- its not rocket science, breathing keeps us alive, so if we want to feel alive we need to pay more attention to it, well at least I do.
It is so easy to get caught up with everyone else's lives, needs and expectations that we forget to look at our own. Ever noticed how your breathing changes without you thinking about it? when your angry, panicking, laughing or when you have literally had your breath taken away by an unexpected encounter. Our hearts sit so closely to our lungs that the movement of the lungs must have a positive effect on the heart, I don't need a research paper to tell me that. And so my homework has been to notice my breathing and be conscious of its effects on my body and mind, to control less and move more, I'm probably still not going to sweat but I'm going to have lots of fun trying. As for my Great Aunt who not only walked endlessly but also drank with Sailor's, sang, danced and had tattoos, well she undoubtedly caused lots of people to stop breathing at times but she was simply to busy living and laughing to notice. Personally, clear the tables people Its time to take a deep breath and dance....
Keep dancing on the tables all......Suzy x
