Breath is life. Correct breathing helps sustain a calm spirit in the face of life's situation.
Life events and situations may become too overwhelming. Your spouse has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. Your son has been laid off. Your boss has been withholding money from your paycheck. Your daughter was recently in a car accident. There are times in your life when everything that could go wrong, does. As a result, your stress level has reached a boiling point. It has probably left you as a borderline paranoid schizophrenic. The medications your doctor has prescribed provide very little help. Along the way, you may have learned about a crucial point of stress management. That is, breath is life.
Benefits of proper breathing
Proper breathing eases tension.
Proper breathing relaxes the mind.
Proper breathing fills the body with nourishing oxygen.
Proper breathing discharges the body of toxins.
Proper breathing prepares you for life challenges.
With proper breathing your emotional and physical states of being can be changed immediately and for the better. Before you begin you must sit and take a few minutes to observe your breath. Pay attention to the way in which air comes into and out of you. How do you breath? Quickly? Slowly? Evenly in and out? Do you have to stop and catch your breath? Does your chest heave? Does your stomach constrict? Do you pause? Do you hold your breath? Do you sigh a lot?
You can practice your breathing technique just about anywhere. You can practice on line at the bank, in a reception office while you wait, at your computer, in bed, while you're on the phone, when playing the piano, or when doing a hobby.
Before you begin with your breathing exercises make yourself comfortable as possible. Wear loose clothing, flat shoes or none at all. Sit with your coccyx just grazing the back of your chair, your upper back free and unsupported. Place your left hand on your lower abdomen and concentrate on your body receiving its oxygen. Let your shoulder drop, draining down toward the floor. Place both feet flat on the floor comfortably three or four inches apart. Release your belly. Consciously raise and lower your diaphragm a few times before you begin the breathing.
Push your belly down with your hand getting all the air out. Now, take your first good inhalation watching the hand rise as your belly rise. Exhale, as your belly lowers. Repeat, as you concentrate on receiving your oxygen into your body. Loosen all your limbs and allowing them to be stirred by your breath.
Many breathing techniques are available. However, diaphragmatic breathing is the type of breathing you do every day. This causes you to take air in as your abdominal muscles expand and then let air out releasing your belly inward. Your diaphragm flattens and pushes up toward the rib cage, motivating your muscular activity of the stomach. There is no beginning and end to the breath once you have mastered diaphragmatic breathing.
Numerous resources are available on breathing techniques by authoritative experts. I have provided a brief description of what I receive during my yoga sessions.
Letting Go
As you travel along your path to your destiny, you will encounter challenging situations, events and people. How you react to these challenges is the crucial point towards maintaining a healthy balanced stress-less life. Living with the ability to cope with life stressful events, it is helpful to remember the code of conduct we learned from our elementary school teachers. How to treat others? Be kind and use kind words. Cooperate with others. Be helpful. Be gentle. Be polite. Take turns. Be fair. Share. Respect the thoughts and feelings of others. Give encouragement. Listen. Care about others. Treating others with these regards reflect a sense of balance and well being within you. It is you, regardless of how others treat you.
Your goal is to let yourself go of life stresses. Identify your stresses, change your negative reaction towards them, focus on yourself by planning reasonable goals and during all of your life activities learn to breath. Finally, learn to let go. You must realize that you cannot think nor act for others. You are responsible for your own well being. Let go of all the past issues, which do not serve you and look ahead to the future. Accept others for who they are. Think positive thoughts of health, wealth, and prosperity. Feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. Be good. Always.
