Episode #5 - Focus on your breath and change your life

Lets start with the basics.

In our day to day life we are constantly bombarded with different experiences, information, facts, feelings, events. Sometimes we are overloading our sympathetic nervous system. Think about all the loud noises, flashing lights, crowds, advertising - basically anything that tries to gain our attention. This process activates our "flight-fight" mechanism in our body, throwing us out of balance. And who wants that? 

But what if there was a tool that you can tap in to every single day? Something that happens naturally and without much effort? Something that we can use to reverse that, something that activates our parasympathetic nervous system and helps us to come back to our rest and digest mechanism in or bodies and restore balance. Something that reduce our blood pressure, slows down the breath and heart rate before, during and after a stressful event. 

What if I told you the most simple tool for all of this is breathing?

What if you took five minutes out of your day just to focus on your breath? You might think that sitting in the silence and focusing on your breath for five or ten minutes a day seems very boring because you have too many things to do. You see it as a daily indulgence that you cant afford to do. You might be thinking "ain`t nobody got time for that".

But what if that was a very CRUICAL regiment for your health? What if by taking those five minutes a day would make a difference in your life and your day?

Where do we start?

1. Lets begin right here and now with your breath!

2. So take the moment right now wherever you are (you can chose to stay seated, you might stand up - whatever feels right for you. You might even want to stretch around a little bit - just choose where you want to be). Once you make that decision - take a few moments to shift around a little bit, get comfortable and allow the eyes to softly close.

3. Let yourself settle.

4. Keep your eyes softly closed.

5. Take the moment to feel your feet on the ground, feel the sit bones, start to feel the spine extending and holding you, start to feel the shoulders softening down your back.

6. Start to soften the muscles in your neck and in your face and jaw. Take a moment here. Give yourself a permission to let go. Let go of everything outside this space. Let go of everything that might of happen just before this moment. Let go of everything that you might need to do afterwards. Let go of judgements, expectations about yourself and about this practice. Allow your mind settle into your heart and body.

7. Start to listen to a beat of your heart. Welcome yourself as you are at this very present moment - physically, emotionally, mentally.

8. Begin to bring your awareness to your breath. Take deep breaths.

9. Notice the rise of your chest as you inhale, notice the dropping down as you exhale.

10. Notice yourself maybe sitting a little taller on the inhale, notice yourself rooting down a little deeper on the exhale.

11. Become aware of brining in the inner peace, quiet and serenity on your inhale, become to let go of anxiety and stress on the exhale. Take 5 deep breaths in and out.

12. On your next inhale count how many times it takes to get on top of that inhale and to balance it out - count the same amount of times to reach your full exhale. You might be working with the number of 4, 5, 6 or higher. Whatever your number is, stay with it. For the next five breaths count up all the way to your inhale and count back down to your exhale. Five deep breaths in and five deep breaths out.

13. Allow the count to drop away. Take a moment to return to your natural breath.

14. Begin to bring your awareness back to the room. Slowly start to open your eyes open.

Notice if your mind is more quiet and breath more smooth? Notice the inner peace and quiet. The awareness of the present moment. do you feel recharged? Are you ready to take on the day? Imagine if you would do this every single day. What a difference it would make. Namaste!

If you are a beginner, I really recommend using a guided meditation app to help you get started (I use 'Calm').

I also want to highlight the importance of not trying to do this practice perfectly, just let it be what it is.

As long as you keep doing it, the easier it will become. I invest just 10 minutes a day, everyday, first thing in the morning and it's the best investment I have ever made! The changes will be gradual at first, but give it time and patience and you will open up a whole new way of being .

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I hope you found this discussion interesting. Now I want to hear from you, comment down below what is your number one mindfulness hack to reduce the stress, get calm, find your inner peace.

If you liked this article, please consider subscribing to this channel if you want to keep in touch.

But for now, I will be rediscovering the things I liked before social media and exploring myself inwards. I am redirecting my energy to things more aligned to my goals, values and interests. I will keep capturing this journey one article at a time.

When the breath wanders, the mind also is unsteady.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Stay humble,

Liv.