A few weeks ago, I received the exact same piece of advice from three separate sources within a 12 hour period. The first was from someone who knows me fairly well, the second has no idea that I even exist on the face of the planet, and the third came through some reading that I was doing. It should be noted that in all three cases, I wasn't asking for advice at the time, but apparently I didn't need to because it just kept coming my way. The good advice that I have received is just one simple, but powerful word: Relax.
Google (who probably stole it from Webster).... defines the word "relax" as "to make less tense or anxious."
Oh, I like that one. Yes, more of that in my life, please and thank you. This makes me think of taking a big breath but in two different ways. One is to do it on purpose using the 4-7-8 method. You can Google that one, or maybe they traded information with Webster, and he has it, I do not know. This will slow the heart rate and calm my butt down. But, the other kind of taking a deep breath to me just happens naturally. When Storm is spanking me there is a point usually at least several minutes into the spanking as I am bent over and my upper body relaxes. Again, I am not consciously aware of this until......... there just comes from me this deep breath and then I completely sink into the bed..... and I am thinking about the spanking......yes....... yes....... Something just feels completely right. (I am not talking about spankings where I am being disciplined. Those are NOT relaxing, but the before and the after can be, as can the role affirmation and stress relief kind.)
Did you know that we're not supposed to tense up before an orgasm ? I read that when you start to feel your way going up to the peak, instead of tensing your muscles and then relaxing upon explosion, to actually relax on the way up and during and that it makes it much stronger. It works when I remember to do it. YIKES!
The second definition is "to make a rule or restriction less strict without abolishing it." Hmmm. I sometimes get my hopes up that Storm will subtract some from the "tally" that he is keeping in his mind of my infractions if I think the number is getting a little high for my liking. I may perform a sweet task for Storm whether it is something I often do or rarely do, and he appreciates, but then I ask him, "Subtract 5 from the tally?" Him, "No." I recently asked him why I got in trouble for one minor thing but not a different fairly minor thing. He said "It is the referee's call. It's subjective." Well, hand that man a whistle and a black and white striped shirt! (Rosie, that is a referee in a basketball game.) He actually told me just today when I kiddingly lipped off at him, "Watch your mouth."
Holy crap. That is a new one. GEEZE. It startled me. I asked him, "Wait, do we say that in our ttwd?" And he said, "Would you rather I just hold up my finger and then that way you know you earned a fiver (set of five) like I have been doing?" Me, "Yes." My eyebrows are drawn together as I type this. I was not being mean with what I said that warranted the "watch your mouth" comment from him. I was teasing him, but he is trying to be more dominant, so I get it. But I don't like that phrase. Mothers say that phrase. My mother said it. I said it as a mother, too. Of course, he can correct me, and he does, but I haven't just given him a blank page regarding my submission and so if something makes me uncomfortable, I will say something respectfully. Notice that I
asked him if we say that in twwd. I did not
tell him that we don't say it. Perhaps it would have been better for me to have said nothing at all, but remember that just as he is practicing his dominance and I am still practicing my submission.
The third definition is "to make something less firm or tight." Uh-oh. You know where this one is going, don't you? Like less tight as in after-giving-birth-less-tight? OH GOSH. I recently saw an ad online for bras with very kind names for our breasts. It called my saggy avocado-shaped breasts, "Relaxed boobs." Oh, then let me tell you that my girls are quite relaxed. Comatose, in fact. Oh, except when Storm pays them attention, then they perk up a little bit.
If you've done very much reading here at all, then you know how calm my Storm is and yes I still find it funny and ironic that I named him Storm. When have we ever checked the weather radar and thought, "Oh, I am so happy a storm is coming through here?" Storm doesn't go around the house, following me, badgering me, telling me what to do when I am all stressed. He knows that a squeeze to the back of my neck helps me. He hugs me a lot when I approach him. And he will say soft, soothing, wise words when he's holding me after I say this common phrase to only him and no one else in my life, "Talk me down, Honey," when I am worried about A,B, and C or about A thru Z.
There is also a big breath and a sigh of relief that I have noticed that does not occur in me, but occurs in Storm. It happens any time he is sitting in his office working at his desk and I approach him from behind. I can rub his shoulders and massage his neck or just start caressing him and begin stroking his hair. After just a minute or two, I feel his body relax and then I hear a breath kind of go out of him at the same time. I
love when that happens. He's relaxing from my touch despite my anxious mind or actions. Those don't matter when I approach him like that. I don't know if he realizes this actually happens as I have never asked him. But, almost always after I am done touching him in such a way he will say, "I like it when you touch me." I like it, too.
So pass it on, my friends. Whether you say the word, hear the word, feel or help someone else feel the word, may we all take a big ole deep breath and ........ relax............