Have you ever watched red kites as they glide through the sky? Last year I went out to an area where the kites can be found in great numbers. Watching them glide around on the currents was mesmerising. They would glide for a bit and then swoop down to something that perhaps was going to be their dinner, and then they would go high again on the current and swoop down again. These two kites eventually decided to get extra familiar with each other, but it was difficult to photograph these super speedy birds. As I may have mentioned in an earlier post, at some point these red kites were close to extinction but with humans putting feeders out the numbers are now back to normal and perhaps even too over populated. Last spring/summer when the humans were all locked up in their homes; these amazing birds took over the skies and often you could hear their sound carried by the wind. With no cars, very few planes and humans no longer making the noise outside the birds come back to town. Nature showed us that if the human world slows down; the true beauty of the world resurfaces.
This take us back to the theme of the weekend of slowing down and enjoying the ride. It is the theme that I find myself circling back. The birds of prey use the currents to float and swoop down from great heights, they have learned to use the air to their best advantage. As humans we fail to recognise the importance of air, and oxygen. We forget how important it is to take deep breaths and allowing for the slower breaths to oxygenate our tissues and slow the heart rate down.
Have you ever contemplated why your heart is racing and your breathing accelerates with fear and anxiety? Have you contemplated why your body wants to throw up or poop it’s pants either because of fear or anxiety? Have you ever wondered why your hands curl up into fists, or you become too twitchy for the same reasons? Have you ever wondered how your body reacts to any perceived fear or perceived anxiety? Are you in fact familiar with how your body feels when anxious or afraid; and how does it feel at rest or calm? I have to ask these questions many times of my clients, for often I have clients who are either anxious or angry with the world, and often they can’t tell me; or they say “i tried this breathing thing, it never helped”.
The kites in my picture are extremely aware of their body; of the surroundings or what is happening ahead, and below and can react quickly to any change in their surroundings.
How quickly can you adapt to your new surroundings? How flexible do you think you are? If your body is always in an alert state and can not calm/ sooth itself, do you think you react or respond to the world around you? Have you found ways to sooth your inner self?
Calming breaths, breathing in as if smelling a flower, and breathing our as if you are blowing out a candle; is good to do. Feeling the chair under yourself, I mean literally making your body be aware of the seat underneath you, and maybe feeling the weight of your own body helps with calming. Or you can try naming 5 things you can see; touch 4 physical things; listen out for 3 sounds; smell two smells in the air; and one calming breaths. All these techniques can help the brain be back in the hear and now to respond to what is happening.
We have been living in a world that activated our fear response more than ever before across our human family. It is time we came back to a level of equilibrium. From a calmer place we can respond quicker; we can be more adaptable to new conditions.
Do you feel like being like the red kite and glide through this world with ease?
As always join in the conversation in a comment, or journal your thoughts. We are ready to evolve, join us on the journey of discovery.
