Friday, Jan. 27: Ha, Ha, Ha, Breathing and Making Sound

HA HA HA
This very moment, this very breath, I am alive, you are alive, the miracle continues. This is it. The air comes in, and becomes part of us. The air releases out and something from inside of us merges with the environment. There are no hard boundaries between ourselves and the environment. Every breath sucks in the “environment” into ourselves. Every breath out merges “me” with the outer world, the so-called environment. We are all environmentalists, those of us who breathe.

We are all in this moment, whether we know it or not, breathing, whether we know it or not.

In and out, out and in, belly rising or chest filing, or ribs expanding and then the opposite. To be healthy requires good out-breathing. To exhale ful is one of the secrets of happiness. Get rid of the extra and you will be filled.

Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha.

Say it once. Say it three times. Press your belly in and a little downward as you puff out your ha.
Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha!

Now let’s give ourselves some options. We’ll do the one ha, three ha bit, but let’s hum the ha’s, and let’s do it twice before taking in air.
Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha
Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha.

There is this interesting idea in the Feldenkrais work, that if we want to be free you should afford ourselves with three ways of doing whatever we habitually only do one way. Three ways of sitting down, three ways of sitting once we are seated down, three ways of brushing our teeth, three ways of holding a pen when we write, three ways of standing or walking or running. And so on.

So, let’s give ourselves one more option in haha land. Sing this bit of jolly nonsense, or little pre-Santa practicum, and sing it three times through before taking in the air. Mouth open wide, pressing in and down with the belly. (Don’t just read this, play along. This now is your chance to be a playful, experimental now). Mere the inner air with the environment. Give it on out to the world, this gift of breathing out, and making a song sound of being alive.
Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Ha.
Ha. Ha. Ha.