Exhale: to breathe out in a deliberate manner.
It’s with intention that we breathe. Inviting the breath in each day is our choice and it’s that same power to choose that shapes our lifestyle. Can you choose silence in an argument? Can you choose humility in the wake of disagreements? Can you choose forgiveness after a tough loss? It seems that too often we choose the easy way out.
Why? Because it’s easy.
Who wants to actually choose patience when your luggage is “God-knows-where” and you’ve been on hold with customer support for 45 minutes? It’s with practice and time that we can acknowledge the power we have to choose our outcomes. And today, I invite you to start small. Today, I invite you to choose to feel your breath. Notice the belly. Notice the rise and fall of your chest. Notice the natural expansion that spreads out from your ribs. Taking deeper breaths than you normally allow and feel the sense of ease that has permeated the body. The mind is clear, the body is still, and you are focused on only your breath; gratefully recognizing the most natural function your body can perform.
You feel balanced.
Finding an internal state of balance is hard, impossible, scary, fleeting. Each one of us is imperfectly made, but we continue to seek that “perfect” state of peace that really only exists outside of ourselves. We crave the ease that a “balanced” life seems to create, but is that really attainable? Where can you truly find a perfectly balanced life? This never-ending game of hide-and-seek has us totally wound up and further out of balance. We are overworked, unfulfilled, and tired.
What we need is a relief, the same kind of relief you might feel after releasing a pent-up sigh. Breathe it out. Make a sound. Exhale. Notice the stillness you’ve just created by the most natural function your body can offer. It’s with intention that we breathe and it’s with intention that we naturally achieve a perfect state of balance within. Letting go of the things outside of our control, we can choose to simply breathe.
The Exhale is created with the intention to help cultivate the balance you’re naturally meant to have by simply inviting it in.
Because balance is only natural. Looking around, you will see balance is everywhere:
THE SUN \\ the moon
MOVEMENT \\ stillness
DAY \\ night
HARD \\ soft
YIN \\ yang
INHALE \\ exhale. It’s only natural.
It’s with this awareness that we can understand that The Exhale represents a restorative release, a place for growth, and the natural balance your body craves.
I’m Lauren,
the voice behind The Exhale. I’m made whole by several parts: student, lover, teacher, friend, and coach. I became a Holistic Health Coach because I wanted to connect and serve others in a real way.
But first, I realized I needed to find, embrace, and love myself.
This platform was initially created (mostly) out of selfish reasons: I was impatient, tired, and painfully aware of how I was living without any mindful intention. I needed reminders to practice stillness when my body craved it; I needed reminders to hear my thoughts before releasing them into the world; and I needed a reminder to exhale and simply breathe when I feel out of control. What’s offered here are words from someone so far from reaching a state of enlightenment, but that same someone is actively trying to arrive there one day. And I’d like for you to come, too.
The Exhale will not provide 100% guaranteed or your-money-back solutions to a stress-free life.
The Exhale will not provide get-rich-quick gimmicks concerning your health and wellness.
And, The Exhale will not provide diluted information on “trendy” methods already being exploited on every other type of health platform.
But what it can provide is well-researched articles on subjects that may be useful in cultivating a richer, holistic lifestyle.
It can provide like-minded individuals a community to gather and share experiences, ideas, and thoughts.
And it can, and will, definitely provide a glimpse into my attempts at finding “balance;” however that looks in the modern world.
the exhale 