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Redefining Strength
I want to change our perception of strength. Strength is the ability to meet resistance and influence an outcome without compromising ourselves. And we already have it.
Strength is not an attribute; it’s a state of being. Gladiators, bodybuilders, and football players demonstrate strength through brute force, sheer willpower, muscle mass, and relentless pursuit. But we’re also quick to identify dancers and martial artists as strong. Their medium taps into a sense of vulnerability, balance, alignment, controlled power, and grace—but no one can deny their strength. Strength may look different on each of us, but it is an inherent part of who we are.
You are not weak by nature; you are stronger than you think. Your strength is not something you need to kill yourself to gain—it is already within you, waiting to be excavated. The key is to stop chasing something you already have and tap into it, so you can manifest that strength in your everyday life.
Because we don’t think we’re strong, we approach resistance with the idea that we’re not enough. We throw everything we have at it and push past our physical, mental, and emotional limitations. We see strength as domination, but it’s not.
When you learn to listen to your body’s divine wisdom, you cultivate a sense of where your body is developing tension instead of standing in its strength. You end the vicious cycle of unrealistic expectations, injury, and self-criticism and learn how to consciously embrace responsible growth. You stop compartmentalizing your strength into emotional, physical, and mental pieces and operate from the strength of your being at all times.
You learn how to align yourself with gravity—instead of working against it—so you can channel your strength to meet life’s resistance. As you meet resistance with equal parts power and alignment, you transform tension into strength
As in the sword dance above, the power lies in bringing just the right amount of force—not too little and not too much. By meeting the sword’s weight, I meet gravity. I am tapped into a larger source of energy, free of tension, and discover a strength that is wholly and uniquely mine.
About Tammy Wise
It is Practical to be Spiritual
by Tammy WiseStrip yourself down to blind breath to get out of your own way. By blind I mean, without preconceived beliefs and expectations that ultimately tighten your breath and take you out of the mystery and freedom of the moment. Take your preconceived definitions away and who are you?
You are raw to the bone; you are free!
Imagine your muscles surrendering their grip from your bones with each breath. The skeleton is free to align as it was designed to, without the tension of outdated beliefs and habits imposing themselves on your mind and body. To breathe life in and death out, in real time, is a spiritual and practical journey that aligns you with who you are now, rather than with who you have been.
Conscious breathing opens up the body to receive oxygen and the mind to embrace purpose–the givers of life. Without a significant relationship with your breath there is no significant learning that can thrust you forward into a self-fulfilling life. Instead, you repeatedly defend your life’s has-beens. Conscious breathing invites you to question and realize that there is a transcendent perception to be glimpsed in every moment.
It may sound grandiose to equate the simplicity of breathing with your spirituality, rather than with the intricacies of a religious testament. However, breathing is the very thing that keeps you connected to every moment. Breathing enthuses you to be curious–curious enough to question your own ways.
CONSCIOUS BREATHING
· Inhale. Notice your diaphragm relax and surrender outwardly. Like Buddha, fully accept what is. Let your body oxygenate and feed on the nutrients filling your bloodstream. Let your mind expand, connect, and allow for meaning, so you unite to the moment with intent to discover yourself anew.
· Exhale. Notice your diaphragm gently contract inwardly. Like Gandhi, release all that is no longer. Let your body empty itself of that, which is exhausted of nourishment and plaguing your existence with tension. Let your mind become clear of run-on thoughts, so you are free to feel what is truly relevant for you in the moment.
Recently, Elise told me her psychotherapist advised her to meditate because she was her own worst enemy. Her negative self-talk was getting the best of her. She’s moving and leaving a job, she says, “it’s so hard to clear my mind; but this was crazy, surreal!” She focussed on steadying her inhales first, making it as full as possible, bringing in as much clean, white light as possible. Then she focussed on releasing the same amount of negativity and darkness through her exhales. She said, “My vision became clearer. I felt like I was at the beach, my breath was in sync with the ocean waves crashing at the shore line; I felt warm sunshine and clarity so easily.”
Breath brings the biology of being human together with the cosmology of our Universe; it is a physical-spiritual intersection. The study of life merges with the origin and evolution of the Cosmos. Life, as we experience it, is founded on this relationship with Creation, making the breath of our existence a physical-spiritual union. Spirituality is not tied to religion it is tied to Creation.