What inspires you?
What makes you feel better, lifts you up, gets you to expand and think positively about yourself and life? What is it that gives you courage to go forward towards your heart’s desire, your highest dream, your greatest goal?
The word inspire means both to stimulate to activity and to inhale. Why would that be? Because, as I have previously discussed, the ability to breathe is also the ability to be alive. It allows us to fully feel, to be fully present, to know we are in a body that moves all the time and that we are both recipients of life and participants in life. The breath moves in and out on its own but it is possible to learn to bring it under your conscious control (up to a point) if you work at it. It symbolizes the fact that life is given to us (by however you wish to think of “the higher power”) but we are also in charge of what we do with it, which could be anything from nothing to a whole lot.
This is true, of course, of other things one of which is also the voice itself. You can live with the voice you have and leave it alone. As long as nothing goes wrong with you or it, it will serve you well enough for most purposes. If, however, you need to place demand on it, particularly a lot of demand, it is well to develop some deliberate control over it, so that it is not only more responsive but has more stamina under stress. Somehow, working with the voice, which requires working at the same time with the breath, puts it all together. If we are to be vocally expressive, we must also breathe deeply and fully and learn to ride on the exhale while making sound with just the right balance of the two.
This activity, taken seriously and worked on diligently is, in itself, inspirational. Learning to inspire on purpose, for a purpose (vocal communication) is inspiring. I like that idea. It can give you fuel for other things, both creative and necessary. It can teach you about your body and your mind. It can challenge you deeply, as all physical activities do if we push our own limits. It can fill you up with satisfaction and peace, and with contentment just being involved in the activity of breathing and sounding for its own sake. One of the nicest things about this is that it’s free and you can do it whenever you chose. It’s completely portable and will always be yours. Barring something unusual, it will last as long as you do.
Inspire yourself. Be inspirational. Be fully of breath, life and sound. It’s a joyful way to spend your time.