January is behind us. For many it has been a time of hopeful beginnings and great expectations, for others it has held a disempowering sense of overwhelm and despair.
We may experience mild complaints that threaten to keep us up at night while someone else is barely hanging on by a thinning thread.
There are an endless number of devastating personal and world headlines. There are sudden circumstances we wish we could unwrite and others that are slowly making their way into the spotlight.
The question is how do we cope with it all?
What can you say about the tragic loss of life; what can you say about the ongoing sagas of professionals or teenagers who don’t believe they can cope with the debilitating weight of stress?
These are times when we need to individually and collectively learn to take a step back from the outside to seek the kind of solace that is beyond our human capacities yet is connected deeply within each and every one of us.
The breath we take in must be exhaled.
The Art of Wellness, a feature article in the latest Washington Lawyer, the District of Columbia Bar Magazine, explores the dire need for pathways that change habits and minds toward greater well-being and balance. My fellow attorneys are focused on a movement toward what I have paraphrased as learning to exhale.
This is good. And, it’s a requirement for all of us, no matter your profession or background. Find one practice. Take one step. Do what you need to do for you.
As Maya Angelou said: As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
Don’t wait until you’re older to learn this…
Learn to Exhale now,
