Release Your Stress by Softening Your Belly

When I am caught in struggle, one of the ways I have learned to open to life is by softening my belly.  I know that sounds much too simple, but it really works!

When we were young, we learned how to respond to stressful situations by shutting down, tightening our bellies, closing our hearts, and running away into our minds.  Our bellies have been holding our fear our whole lives.  That’s the fear of a lifetime, right here in our tight bellies.  This includes all of the rejection of ourselves, all of the distancing from ourselves, all of the resistance to life, and all of the wishing that we were different than we are.  When our bellies are tight, we breathe shallow breaths from the chest up.   If you look at cats and dogs and babies, their whole trunk moves when they breathe.  Why?  They are not caught in struggle.

Softening the belly is a process of a lifetime because there will always be times when the old survival system gets woken up and causes us to tighten.  For me, it is often health issues that cause my belly to contract.  When I first began my journey of awakening, it was terrifying for me to soften my belly.  I used pillows and a heating pad on my belly because it was too difficult to do it on my own.  I could only soften my belly in bed each morning because it was too scary to soften my belly when I got out of bed each day.  Slowly and surely, the pillows and heat on my belly kept reminding me that it is safe to let go.  Not demanding that it let go, but inviting it to let go.  And the more I just noticed my tight belly and invited it to let go, the more it became my guide.   Slowly and surely, I fell in love with the scared one and learned how to soften my belly throughout the day without the use of props.  Now, my soft belly is my savior when I notice myself in a place of struggle.

So, the next time you are caught in struggle, say “I see you and I see how scared you are.” Then notice your tight belly, invite it to let go, soften and open to life, saying the mantra “soft belly, soft belly”.  Take a deep breath and as you exhale, release your belly and give it the love it is longing for.  Let your soft belly be your guide.

Can you tune into your belly right now?  Are you tightening down?  If so, can you invite it to let go?  How does it feel?

Image by Artist Kelly Rae Roberts – www.kellyraeroberts.com