Inhale, Exhale, repeat

Every morning I stretch to loosen up my body after sleeping and get the blood flowing. I was doing an Alexander technique lying on my back with my knees bent, feet on the yoga mat, and Ocipivot under my neck and head. I began breathing in and out through my mouth since my nose was stuffy. Immediately I felt the tension in my lower back release. Then I tried breathing through my nose and felt the tension in my upper back release. I released the tension in my mid-back by inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. Usually, I just breathe through my nose. When I got up my whole spine and back felt better. From now on I will breathe this way when I lie on the Ocipivot. How often do we do something in the way we have always done it without seeking out new ways to do it? If you are looking to get directions on your GPS device or your map app on your phone, you are given multiple routes labeled fastest, shortest, easiest, etc. You choose the directions that work best for you. More often than not, we do something by rote or memory without a care as to how we are doing it. Late summer, I decided I wanted to learn how to make Mandelbrot/ Biscotti. I got the recipe from my mon’s friend who is a caterer, focused on baking. I followed the recipe substituting gluten-free measure for measure flour for the flour in the recipe. I got a crumbled mess. Next, I tried the recipe as is with regular flour and still got a crumbled mess. My mom’s friend upon hearing this offered to do a zoom baking lesson with me (I have yet to take her up on this offer). It is important that we explore all the possible solutions to a problem, and ways of doing things for our task, so we do the one that is right for us.