The first time I heard a Nia dance trainer say, “Smell the moment,” my internal rant persona engaged: You can’t smell a moment. You can smell a flower or a turd. A moment? Ridiculous.
But patience (not my top virtue nor even a middle virtue, more a fleeting one) sometimes brings me around. Now I understand that it’s just another way of inviting someone to take a deep breath in. So why not just say: “Take a deep breath in.”
I’m just guessing here, but having followed the instruction (with grumbling of course, grumbling being my resting state), there’s some kind of extra thing that happens. Adding a sensory directive puts me both in the moment and in my body. This is good for someone who spends way to much time stuck in my head.
Breathing deeply is healthy. Deep breaths are more efficient: they allow your body to fully exchange incoming oxygen with outgoing carbon dioxide. They have also been shown to slow the heartbeat, lower or stabilize blood pressure and lower stress., says Dr. James Hoyt, a pulmonologist at UCHealth Pulmonology Clinic.
So, I offer this picture from a recent camping trip in southern Oregon. Take a deep breath in and imagine that ineffable aroma of downed leaves in mid-autumn. I know sitting here in my studio, I’m doing just that, settled and ready for a writing day.
Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now 