exhaling

[lobolance]

 Thinking about shoulder tension; watching my manager, and reminding her that when it comes to releasing tension, the exhale is more important than the inhale. I recognized the tension in her upper body; I know it intimately in my own. 

Then realized 'exhaling' also corresponds to letting go of 'stuff,' aka clutter, something on my mind even more than usual right now, due to moving my household. When I've got what I need/what works for me out of an object, I (need to) let it go. In reality, when I do declutter, there is always an energy release, a sense of right/calm/peace.

And now I realize... this is at least part of the Buddhist concept of 'not clinging'. But I think it's huge to see this 'exhaling' is how things work in the real world. It's not an attitude or habit which arises out of nothing but (less than reliable) self-control and will... it's just seeing oh, when I exhale, the tension eases from my shoulders. When I reduce my quantity of t-shirts so that they all fit in one drawer, I feel at ease and satisfied. Even happy to imagine someone else might get use out of the quality items which I'm passing on.

Now I need to explore applying 'exhaling' more to relationships; another type of 'clutter' (though that one is much more complex). ! Though I think actually I already have.

It's trippy to take the philosophical out and start with the body. Where it all starts. Some of this is perhaps available to me because of Thorn's great post on the body and the spirit, which I read the other day.