The most underutilized tool for well-being that you forgot you have

We get uncomfortable and we take it as a sign to flee.

What if…

…it’s actually the sign that we’re in exactly the right place?

A yoga teacher I know is fond of saying, if you feel stuck and slightly confrontational, don’t run away.

Breathe into those spaces.

Relax into them.

As you send your breath there, your body will stop fighting you.

It will understand that you’re on the same side.

Years ago when my husband and I were early scuba divers, I asked him how he could stay so calm.

He said, it’s simple.

When you’re scuba diving, there’s only one thing that you have to do.

Just breathe.

I replied, “But there’s all sorts of gadgets and dials to pay attention to. Do I have air? Am I too shallow? Too deep?” 

But, he said, “Sure. There’s that. But, it’s not the most important thing.

The most important thing, really, is to make sure you just breathe.”

Last year, Dr. Mark Krasnow, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute biochemistry professor at Stanford University, oversaw a study that produced interesting scientific evidence to support the power of the breath.

We take for granted this amazing tool we have for healing, coping, and detoxing. Maybe it’s because we do it automatically that we sometimes forget that we do it at all.

This week, notice your breath.

Notice when you are in a hurry, how shallow you breathe.

Notice how you have the power to calm yourself simply by breathing deeply and slowly.

Notice the places that feel uncomfortable or stuck, both physically and mentally. Close your eyes and breathe into them. Picture life giving oxygen going to those places, waking them up, healing them, rejuvenating them.

This breath-thing is highly under-rated. Yet…

Breath is life.

 

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