JUST BREATHE!
We live in a very fast paced, complicated, and problem-oriented world.
Would you agree?
In the last week have you thought or shared any of the following statements?
I’m SO busy, I don’t have time for myself anymore, I just need some space in my day, I feel rushed and anxious most of the time, my nervous system is shot, I am waking up at night thinking about what needs to be done tomorrow, I rush to get to my yoga class so I can hurry up and relax, I just need that glass of wine at night to unwind.
Does your daily routine include some or all the following?
You wake up, listen to the news, or read the paper, grab coffee, run out the door for work, rushed so you pick up a muffin or breakfast sandwich from Tim’s, eating in the car on the way to work while driving through traffic.
You arrive at work and before getting your coat off someone is at the door with a list of problems to tackle and everyone seems to need everything done immediately. You log into your computer and have 80 emails waiting, you jump from virtual meeting to virtual meeting most of the day with little to no time in between to even use the restroom. You may or may not eat lunch and if you do it is behind your desk while you are catching up on your emails.
At the end of the day, you leave work rushing to pick up the kids, go to the gym or a yoga class or for a walk, so you can “fit in” your selfcare regime. If its late you might pick-up take-out dinner on the way home and perhaps stop by the liquor store to pick something up to help you relax.
By 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. or maybe even midnight you are way past ready to climb into bed, and you literally collapse.
Then you wake up in the morning and do it all over again just waiting for the weekend to arrive so you can rest.
You are highly educated, productive, intelligent, have high energy, are laser focused, and very successful in your career and something is missing but you can’t quite put your finger on it.
I attended a Kundalini Yoga Symposium this past weekend. The pressenters shared amazing research being undertaken to explore the benefits of a variety of yogic practices on our overall health. During one of the plenary sessions, I was reminded about how out of alignment most of us are with our true nature – our natural rhythm, our inner innate wisdom.
One of the speakers spoke about the power of a pause. There is a natural pause within nature and within our own physiology, yet we are unconscious of it in our daily lives. For example, there is a natural pause between each beat of the heart; there is a natural pause at the top of the inhale, and at the bottom of the exhale as we are breathing; there is a natural pause before night that we dusk and a natural pause before the sun rises, we call it dawn. This pause is an important part of our true nature and eases use into the next thing. Our busy lives bring us out of alignment and we are no longer aware of, in connection with or understand the critical importance of this pause.
The good news is that we can return to harmony in a very simple way, and no we don’t have to go to live in a cave and meditate all day and absolutely no travel or expense is necessary. All we need is to cultivate greater awareness of our breath.
We are born on the inhale, and we will leave this earth on the exhale. Like the heart, the breath just keeps working for us, day in day out, in service of our life, patiently waiting for us to notice, and ready to share its deep wisdom and capacity to transform us in ways that are simply magical.
So, I invite you to connect with your breath today and conduct your own experiment.
When you wake up and before you rush to get out of bed, take one slow deep breath through your nose, notice how the inhale feels, notice the temperature of the air as it passes through your nostrils, notice the natural pause at the top of the inhale, then follow the breath on the exhale again through the nose, notice the temperature of the air now, at the end of the exhale, notice the pause again just before the next inhale begins. If you feel like taking more breaths like this then take a few more.
After your shower and before you have coffee – do it again, take three long breaths, noticing your experience. What does your mind say – if it says “I don’t have time for this” then take another three breaths. Slow yourself down, slow your nervous system down, BE with your breath.
When you get to work and before your next meeting take three long breaths, why not invite your team to join you!
Each day we take approximately 20,000 breaths that’s 7.5 million breaths in one year! See what happens when you begin to bring conscious awareness to your own breath.
Be curious, be adventurous, be courageous – and watch what happens.
Wishing you an amazing exploration!
Sharon
