Let go first
I received a very inspiring meme some days ago, one that is supposed to propagate an idea for a fantastic life. The words of the meme ran thus:
“Inhale the future without any expectations, hold the present, and exhale the past without any regret.”
While the meme does teach us a valid lesson, the presentation of the lesson is all wrong. It doesn’t begin right and so doesn’t end right.
The quotation has been so written because we are used to the concept of inhale-exhale. Fitness instructors in recent times, hardly ever educate their students about the importance of breathing when exercising, and if at all they do so, they teach their students to inhale first, then exhale. (It probably comes from the typical human fondness to acquire and the hesitation to give.)
Anyway, this being what I had been taught, inhale-exhale is what I used to follow too.
That is, till I chanced to listen to a lecture by a famous fitness practitioner.
According to him, fitness techniques of ancient times always began with exhalation before going on to inhalation. The theory he expounded was that it is beneficial to rid ourselves of negativity before taking in the positive.
Carbon-di-oxide is a negative element so far as our body is concerned. If we were to deeply exhale this negative element out, then the oxygen that fills our system with inhalation is likely to remain pure.
However, if we inhale first, then without doubt, the negative carbon-di-oxide will get mixed with the pure oxygen that we have inhaled. Which means the negativity in our system is not cleared and this in turn contributes to our ill-health.
Similarly, we will never be able to hold on to our present and inhale a good future unless we first exhale or let go completely, of all the unpleasantness that is past.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Oct 21, 2017)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/8789c662-cd2c-4d53-803f-b91a4065a2de.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
“Inhale the future without any expectations, hold the present, and exhale the past without any regret.”
While the meme does teach us a valid lesson, the presentation of the lesson is all wrong. It doesn’t begin right and so doesn’t end right.
The quotation has been so written because we are used to the concept of inhale-exhale. Fitness instructors in recent times, hardly ever educate their students about the importance of breathing when exercising, and if at all they do so, they teach their students to inhale first, then exhale. (It probably comes from the typical human fondness to acquire and the hesitation to give.)
Anyway, this being what I had been taught, inhale-exhale is what I used to follow too.
That is, till I chanced to listen to a lecture by a famous fitness practitioner.
According to him, fitness techniques of ancient times always began with exhalation before going on to inhalation. The theory he expounded was that it is beneficial to rid ourselves of negativity before taking in the positive.
Carbon-di-oxide is a negative element so far as our body is concerned. If we were to deeply exhale this negative element out, then the oxygen that fills our system with inhalation is likely to remain pure.
However, if we inhale first, then without doubt, the negative carbon-di-oxide will get mixed with the pure oxygen that we have inhaled. Which means the negativity in our system is not cleared and this in turn contributes to our ill-health.
Similarly, we will never be able to hold on to our present and inhale a good future unless we first exhale or let go completely, of all the unpleasantness that is past.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Oct 21, 2017)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/8789c662-cd2c-4d53-803f-b91a4065a2de.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
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