This is my second painting that I painted last month.
Remember my reminder to
stand up tall?
Well, this one is my reminder to:
Stop.
Grow Still
Take A Deep Breath.
It occurred to me, when I was working with a patient on his breathing issues, that our lungs remind me very much of wings.
I told him to take a big deep breath of air as if he were stretching out his wings behind him, imagining his lungs filling, his shoulder blades growing wings, and his arms reaching out and up as if he were about to take flight.
I liked that image I had in my mind of our lungs filling and turning into wings so much I wanted to paint it!
So I did.
I grabbed my medical school anatomy book (hard to believe I used that over 20 years ago now! Wowza how time flies!) and got to work, sketching out the lungs and trachea on a canvas.
After that, I added an outline of wings behind the lungs:
Then on to painting… first I filled in the background with a layer of deep grey:
Then I wanted the energy to feel like it was pouring down over you, swooping in, urging you to breathe in deeply and receive the life giving air directly into those precious lungs of yours:
I added some divine purples and pinks to the background color, and began to paint in the wings with whites and light greys:
Once I got the background and wings how I wanted them, I outlined the lungs again for contrast:
And then painted them in with a pinkish orange:
Working back in some additional highlights, I painted some shadows and highlights on the lungs with white and light purples, and added some more white energy coming in from above:
Lastly I added the mantra: breathe deep.
Because just like with my Stand Tall painting, I wanted these two images to be wonderful, healing, anatomically based but spiritually expansive reminders to be the best you possible today and every day.
At least I know I could personally use the reminder to stand up straight, hold my head up as I meet the stress of each day, and stop once in a while all the way through and take those long deep breaths that feel so good.
If you could use a reminder too, you can find prints of this image right over here.
And if you don’t think breathing impacts your health, you should try a transcendental breathing class… now there is a great way to feel more expansive and more free than you have felt in a long, long time!
There is a reason why, when we come into this world, everyone waits for the baby to take that first breath of air.
That’s the breath of life!
That’s the sign that we are healthy, that we are strong, that we are alive!
To your health and your inner angel wings, that are just waiting to fill and support you… don’t forget to lean on them when you need to!
xoxoxo, Laura
