I already told you that I lied when I said “Change your life in 30 seconds”, because it’s a lot faster than 30 seconds. Today it’ll take a minute or two to get started – by the time we’ve finished in this book, you’ll be moving through lots of those change places in a split second.
The key to that speed is the smiling curiosity and the breathing in this short exercise.
We think of breathing as automatic and in many ways it is, however, holding our breath was one of the first things that happened when we pushed down our feelings, when we didn’t know what to do with them.
Breathing is good!
Here’s an experience for you to use breathing as a foundation for getting the answers to our Magic Questions in waayyyy under 30 seconds. Remember these?
1. Whose feeling is it?
2. What do I need to know or do about it?
3. Has it all gone yet?
4. And sometimes it helps to know “How does this fit with creating or changing what I care about?”
Please don’t be misled by the simplicity of this exercise to feel an inner smile. The whole “get rid of the struggling”, feel good, inner guidance thing is simple, when we allow all that complicated crap to drop away.
Slow down and read the following words slowly and deliberately. Pay gentle attention to your outward breath for a few breaths.
That’s it… feel me smiling… reading sloooowwww…. and at the same time notice the way that the lower part of your ribs move on that outward breath – the way that your ribs just kind of squash the air from your lungs. And you’re not doing that on purpose, you’re just smiling and noticing the movement of your ribs on that next outward breath.
Still reading slooowwww…
… and noticing the movement of your ribs on another outward breath…
… and another breath…
Still with gentle attention on your outward breath, think of something that makes you smile and notice all the things that change on the inside of your body when that smile reaches your eyes.
Just notice the effect of smileyness for a breath.
… and another outward breath…
… and another…
We’re not looking for anything, or doing anything other than just paying gentle attention to what that smiley curiosity feels like in our body.
Ahhhh and smiling for just another breath…
… and another breath…
… and another…
When you feel that you’ve finished with that smiley curiosity, walk around the room for a bit, smiling still, feeling the flex of your feet on the floor. I know this was a simple exercise in feeling the power of our inner smile, but don’t be surprised if you feel joints moving into place. Don’t worry if you don’t feel anything yet, this is just the first tiny step and I’ve got lots more for you. If you’re in a hurry, come on into one of our live events, click here for the details of the free ones.
Today’s picture is one of mine. These giants with their incredible strength are the workhorses of the horse world in pretty much the same way that smiling curiosity is the workhorse of creating and changing what we care about.
Interesting fact: Nature is utterly amazing. As one horse gives the other pleasure and healing by rubbing tight spots with their nose, they are also giving themselves pleasure and healing with an acupuncture point under their nose that releases endorphins into their own body at the same time.
