lead from the heart
and the rest will follow
sometimes fear gets lodged
in the space between the shoulder blades
and the shoulders round forward
to protect the sadness
in the heart
the vulnerability of
being alive
and over time
the head juts forward
and
the diaphragm restricts
the movement of breath
from reaching those spaces
in the body that
are confined in the threads
of being deeply
misunderstood so many times
and they become
rigid
tight
weak
an unfortunate identity of
who the mind thinks the
spirit is
the body,
a storybook of the journey
so far
the body, a manifestation
and
until the story is over, one is here
to discover what the body
is concealing under
all of the layers
that feel so confining
and each breath
every single one
is an opportunity to be brave
to direct the story
to loosen the threads of rigidity
to peel back
and discover what the heart can let go of
in times of remembrance,
to take a deep inhale into the belly
to place both hands on the chest and gently command
it to open
to expand the heart forward
peeling the shoulders back and down
to just fill up!
taking up so much space
so. much. space
deflating like a balloon on the exhale
maybe noticing
how the diaphragm expands
when the heart is leading
how much easier it is to breathe
and maybe sending each full breath
to the sadness, to the fear, to the pain
that confines the body
and
maybe those strands loosen
maybe some space is made
just maybe
one can feel what can be let go of
the heart
so soft, fluid, light
expansive
free and ever loving
cannot lead if
it is buried
and joy dwells in the space in-between