Did you know that your breath creates a natural meditative effect? It reflects your most powerful emotions, and allows you to either soothe or harness your emotions. It helps you to feel solid, whole, grounded and in complete control of your life. It clarifies the mind, and opens your intuition.
Yogi's belief that when you master your breathing, you will finally be at peace with yourself and the world. Science says momentary stress causes the body to tense and you begin to breathe more shallowly. A shallow breath lowers oxygen levels in the blood, which the brain labels as stress. Breathing becomes faster as the heart begins to race as the body is trying to bring in more oxygen. This is a vicious cycle that I am sure most of you have experienced!
Conscious breathing brings you back in your body, and gives you a sense of feeling in control again. It calms all systems down, and allows the body to restore and heal.
I love this quote by Jon Kabat Zinn "As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you."
Yes! Breath is the most fundamental tool to keep us alive, and thriving on this planet. Did you know you breathe about 22000 times a day?
How many of those are conscious meditate breaths?
It is the first thing we learn to do when we arrive here on this planet. We learn to breathe! We take our first breath and hello world here we are! Babies do learn how to find the right rhythm of breath. Then as we age, and we lose our calm at times being an adult, our breath becomes shallow. When we breathe shallow breaths, our brain signals to the body that there is stress, and it tells the heart to beat faster to bring more blood (more oxygen) to our organs, because shallow breathing brings less oxygen. It becomes a vicious cycle... being stressed out.
The only way to regulate this, is to realize you are breathing shallowly, and your heart is racing, to then begin to deepen your breath, and notice your heart rate slow down.
It is science. Our bodies are so amazing! It needs enough awareness and consciousness to help heal itself.
On stressful days I lay out my @yogahustle mat, I cover myself in my @yogahustle blanket, close my eyes, and begin doing some deep breathing. Slow and steady, till I feel calm.
Give it a try!