You are reading this because you have a Big Work you want to put out to your tribe.
In the last two posts, I have encouraged you to accept the fact that taking risk is an essential ingredient in your success. If you accept that, you will feel tension and risk.
In in the last two posts, I have also encouraged you to:
- learn to live with this tension
- do not try to dispel it as a bad thing
- use it to be even more creative
- relax into it
- stretch out your arms and embrace the unknown of whether your work will connect with your audience
But how to do this? Beyond the philosophical understanding that risk and tension are actually good things, how do we “relax into them”?
Moreover, how do we do this when the powerful, yet older, less evolved parts of our brain are wired to avoid tension and risk at all costs?
My answer is this:
Exactly when you feel the risk and tension of putting your work out there, take a welcoming breath.
The rest of this post will describe this delicious alchemy.
HOW TO TAKE THE WELCOMING BREATH
STEP 1:
A welcoming breath is breathing in more fully then usual … with the intention to open and accept what you are feeling in the moment — in this case, the risk and tension of putting your wok out to the public.
Focus on breathing in more fully while you continue to notice the risk and tension you are feeling. Use this deeper inhale of air to physically expand your capacity to accept and welcome the experience of risk and tension.
Try it now. Conjure up that risk and tension about your success … and then, take a welcoming breath.
Taking such a welcoming breath is the crucial way to get beyond your thoughts on the matter, which will always be laced with doubt (thanks to the older, less evolved parts of the brain).
Taking such a welcoming breath puts you in your body, right where you have the power to keep going.
Taking such a welcoming breath opens you to the larger reality that risk and tension are actually fine companions.
STEP 2:
After you breathe in this deeper inhale of air, now hold your breath longer than usual. This will feel a little uncomfortable. Don’t force it too much, just a little discomfort in holding your breath. Do this while you continue to notice any feelings of risk and tension about your work.
You should notice that holding (embracing) your breath brings you a greater capacity to “hold” (embrace) the risk and tension. Holding your breath is the physical correlate of the psychological act of embracing your risk and tension.
As you hold your breath, with the risk and tension, you can experience “I can do this; I am strong; I am capable.” You don’t even have to try. This experience just seems to come naturally with holding your breath.
STEP 3:
Enjoy the exhale. Now that you have held your breath, the exhale is going to feel like a delicious release. It feels good to exhale the held breath. Your body wants to exhale that air, and get to the next, new air. You can ride that process with a fuller sense of release and relief.
Enjoying the exhale is the third step in transmuting risk and tension into a useful force, rather than a haunting distraction.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
You have a Big Idea you want to put out to your tribe. You feel the risk and tension of “will it succeed?” Instead of trying to make that uncomfortable feeling go away, embrace it. Take a welcoming breath, hold it, and enjoy the exhale — all while you continue to notice the risk and tension.
When you welcome the risk and tension with this specific breathing pattern, you transform it into a force of strength.
You are not only learning to live with this tension, but to use it for your continuing courage.
How have you opened up to the risk and tension? In the comments below, let me know how this welcoming breath works for you.
P.S. This is the third article on risk and tension. You can read the first article second article Part 1 – It Comes With Putting Your Work Out There, or Part 2 – Why To Love It