Heart, Breath, Rhythm, Harmony

The other day I woke up and thought – "uh, oh! Is this the flu coming on?" I felt tired, had a sore throat and felt run down. I cancelled all of my appointments, wrapped myself up in warm clothes, drank plenty of warm fluids and tended to my physical body.

As I took care of my physical body, I realized my heart-body, my soul, was in need of some attention. I had to cry, to release some recent holding and stress.

I spent time listening – from a deep level. Asking…. where is my body today? What is my soul needing?

There was a time when I would have just pushed through, ignored being tired, brushed off my sore throat and just kept going. I still see many of my friends and family doing that – pushing. They say things like “I can’t miss that meeting” or “But he needs me to be there.”

This kind of pushing is really the opposite of one of the core tenets of my work – Harmony.

My work is all about helping people get back into Harmony.

But what do I mean when I say that? What is Harmony?

Harmony can be defined as “parts acting as a whole” or “the state of agreement.” We sometimes think of harmony as related to music, when singers or players come together in a powerful and resonant way.

When I say Harmony I'm defining it as the body, the soul, and the spirit all moving as one.

What does harmony look like? Let’s start with what it doesn’t look like. For me, when I'm not in Harmony it looks like:

• Being a bitch
• Eating Cheetos (yes, I have been known to down a bag of vending machine Cheetos during times of stress!)
• Tight breath
• Moodiness/Being cranky or grouchy

The opposite of harmony is discord or disruption and that can look different dependent on the moment. I'm sure you can identify times when you were not in Harmony.

What does being in Harmony look like?

For me it looks like staying calmer, more centered. I am flowing with life. When things go wrong (as they inevitably will) it doesn’t seem so bad.

Harmony is BEING in life, not DOING life.

Being in the work, not doing the job.
Being in the raising the children, not just doing the parenting.
Being in the dishwashing, not just doing the dishes.

Harmony is deeply connected to the powerful words I’m here.

You may have different words that you use - like alignment, or groundedness, or being centered - and these are all great words but they don’t capture the essence of Harmony.

Harmony includes motion and rhythm.
Harmony is not a static condition – but rather a dynamic flow.

When we are in Harmony, it allows deep listening and deep giving.

Harmony allows us to meet the inevitable challenges and bumps of life in a softer way. Harmony allows the rhythmic and flexible meeting of disruption.

Think of waves meeting the shoreline. The water doesn’t stop. It simple bends and flows. Continuing its natural in-flow and then out-flow, just like our breath.

Harmony allows us to follow the ripples of our own life, both internal and external.

Our breath is often the most direct access to Harmony.

It really is the great gateway. It is not static, it does not stand still. It keeps flowing, it is dynamic.

When we begin to pay attention to and tune in to our own breath, we have direct access to our own natural Harmony.

Here is a practice you can use, anytime, to begin to bring more Harmony back into your life.

H-A-R-M-O-N-Y Practice

Heart – Take a minute and bring your hand to your heart.

Attention – Bring your attention to the place where your hand is touching your body. Feel that point of contact. Can you feel the Song of your Heart?

Rest – Just rest there for a moment, nothing more to do than rest and notice what you notice.

Mindful Moment – Take a minute and just stop and breathe from your diaphragm and see if you can notice the pulse, the rhythm of the beat of your body.

Open your awareness and listen with your eyes. Open your eyes to the world around you, by listening and experiencing.

Notice – Expand your awareness to not only the world around you, but also your hand touching your heart, and then, inside your body and notice what lives there is the entire universe of your present moment.

Yawn - Breathe in. Give your body a nice yawn. Inhale the Love. Exhale the Love. Be Grateful for Harmony.

Whale Teaching

Heart

Breath

Breath

Rhythm

Rhythm

Harmony

Harmony of Body

Harmony of Soul

Harmony of Spirit