I’m not sure when it happened. I just started noticing it myself when I’m out for one of my many walks. Perhaps it was when I began engaging in a body scan practice when I was out for my walks. I’d mentally scan my body, feel into various parts of my body as I was out walking, looking for places in my body where I experienced tightness or constriction, or where I felt open as I looked upon the colours of the leaves breathing in their colours. As I scanned my body, I found that, more often than not, my brow was furrowed just like my father’s brow was when he came home from work.

That deep furrow that tightened up between the brows seemed to be there almost anytime I brought my awareness to my body. As I started to pay attention to what I was feeling or thinking about in those moments, I found that my focus and outlook was narrow and constricted. I was more liable to be irritated, frustrated, or sometimes just plain grumpy. I realized that that was not the kind of person I aspired to be and yet here I was unconsciously being that person, allowing my furrowed brow to colour my approach to my situation, to colour the story of what I was living in that moment.

I’ve used the Essene Book of Meditations and Blessings by Danaan Parry for over thirty years, so much so that it’s literally falling apart. It’s a book of daily meditations and blessings that are based on the cycle of the seasons. It was one of the lines in the morning meditations for the fall season that reminded me that the core of love lives within my heart, it lives inside how I feel about me and what is going on in the world.

I decided there and then that I wanted to radiate love and peace instead of irritation and frustration. So now, each time I notice my brow furrowed, I stop, breathe, and remind myself of my desire to radiate love and peace as I consciously unfurrow my brow. I’ve noticed that when I’ve done that I breathe slower, my eyes soften, and most importantly, my heart softens and opens.

As these rainy days descend upon us this month, I invite you to pay attention to where in your body you feel constriction and tightening and release it, surrendering it to the love and peace that resides within your heart.