Tuning the tension knob: more ease, please!

Each month I begin my Love Letter transmissions with an “alchemical attunement”, aimed to inspire a shift in perspective. May we see all our challenges as GOLD, so that we can expand into our highest potential on the wings of gratitude for all that we’ve been through thus far.

Finally, after many years of aspiration without action, I’ve been learning how to play the guitar this year. 

Like I’ve said (like a damn broken record, especially in my HeartSong course, which is going on sale next month btw), music is perhaps the best spiritual practice out there.

And because it seems to be the Britta way, of course all the songs I wanted to learn had a B minor chord. 

[Apparently The Britta-Way includes both starting at a non-beginner level even if you’re a beginner, and also always choosing minor chords.]

If you play guitar, then you know that B minor is a bar chord, meaning that in order to play it you have to straighten your index finger and press down an entire fret of strings, in addition to using your other fingers to achieve the correct chord shape.

Bar chords are not what I’d call beginner chords. They’re tricky, dynamic, and require quite a lot of strength. So I ordered hand strengthening tools and placed them around my home, on my desk, and in my pockets, working my fingers in spare moments. I’ve been practicing almost daily. I’ve made great progress so far, and I’m still not at a place where I feel confident performing songs with B minor for anyone besides Ben.

One evening while practicing, as I moved my fingers to the B minor position and pressed down in an effort to create the proper chord shape, my toes clenched. 

Huh, I thought. Interesting.

I tried the transition again. Sure enough, the moment my fingers went to the B minor position, my toes clenched. This time, I also noticed an increase in jaw tension.

Fascinating. 

For the rest of that evening’s session, the aim of my practice changed entirely. Instead of focusing on getting the chord to sound clean, I put all my energy and attention on keeping my toes relaxed instead as I moved my fingers into position. 

It was absurdly hard. I could practically feel the cemented neural pathways that had subconsciously formed between making the B minor shape with my hand and increased tension in my body, specifically my toes. 

What a mysterious thing, this body!

And wouldn't you know, that as I put more and more attention on keeping my toes relaxed and jaw soft, my B minor seemed to improve. It felt miraculously easier to hit a clean, clear note— as if less effort was suddenly required.

This, my friend, was a spiritual lesson and a marvelous insight.

When I relax, even the challenging shapes get easier.

When I relax, even the hard chords are doable.

When I relax, what feels like a momentous effort becomes simple, doable, easy.

What a splendid reminder!

AND:

What happens when I apply this principle to my business?

To my marketing?

To my business plan?

I bet you can guess.

It gets easier.

I am increasingly intrigued by the balance of YANG and YIN energy we express in our lives and in our work. 

In fact, I’d go so far to say that it feels like my entire body of work is somehow devoted to honoring the seeming-duality of these energies, and perhaps one day grasping the capital T truth— that these energies are beyond duality. 

When you bring together absolute yang and absolute yin, what you get is not TWO, but THREE… a divine trinity, where the third aspect is the union of both, co-existing and co-creating in perfect harmony.

This story of toe tension in my guitar practice is a perfect analogy for what it actually looks like to create a more harmonious balance of force and flow… of yang and yin, both in our personal and professional lives.

So let’s play.

 Alchemical Practice

Is there an area of your life where you sense tension is present?

 
Hint: this isn’t a rhetorical or metaphysical question. Seriously. Is your body tense right now? When do you clench your jaw? When do you hold tightness in your shoulders? What are you doing when your muscles seemingly tighten of their own accord?

 
This is the place we must begin.

 
The body really does keep the score.

 
Want to know where your yang and yin energies are out of harmony? 

 
Ask your body. 

 
Expand your ability to notice. 

 
Make a practice of paying attention to the moments you catch yourself tensing up, and make note of what you’re doing that sparked that tension.

 
With this in mind, dear one, I’ll leave you with a simple mantra to play with.

Alchemical Mantra

As I relax, even the challenges get easier.

Xo,

PS. Speaking of As I Relax, that’s the title to a song my sister-ally Lyndsey Scott wrote, and it’s a JAM. Give it a listen, learn the words, and sing it to yourself when you need a reminder to R E L A X