Breathe

This morning found me at the 6:00 a.m. Spinning ®️ class, silently cursing the extra scoop of ice cream I treated myself to and the extra chapter of the book that kept me up past my bedtime. So you can only imagine my reaction when the instructor said to the class “focus on your breath, not the discomfort in your legs”

After silently muttering to myself a few choice words that I won’t share here, the thought occurred to me…how many times in the day have I focused only on the discomfort of a situation, the discomfort of an interaction, or even looking at an opportunity with discomfort? In those moments, how many times have I stopped and taken a breath? Have I taken a breath to give myself more energy, to relax, to gain some clarity?

Well, I listened to my instructor, I started to breathe, really breathe, and what do you know, my legs felt better, my heart rate hit it’s threshold and stayed there, and everything became much more clear.

Sometimes life’s best moments of clarity can be found by simply taking a breath and enjoying the (bike) ride.