There are many times where I find myself so caught up in the doing that I forget about being. It is critical to take time to just be… meditate, journal, walk in nature, breathing… yes, I said breathing. When we allow ourselves these times it is when our intuition (our higher self) can be heard, hence the importance of quieting ourselves from daily life and just BE. Everyone can find at least 2 minutes in their day for this. It doesn’t take much.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of working one on one with a friend Anna who teaches Pranayama Yoga. Her focus is on helping people BREATHE properly which then allows them to connect with their inner self and live life more fully. She told me of her new grandchild and how wonderful it is to just watch him breathe as he sleeps. In his sweet slumber, a baby’s belly rises and falls in fullness of breath and peace. There is no effort. (Pictured below is my Italian cousin’s new baby… how peaceful and beautiful!) In western society especially, our environment and personal life circumstances move us into a path where we become shallow chest breathers… we literally cut ourselves off from the fullness of Life by not taking in the fullness of oxygen that our body, mind and spirit needs.
Beautiful Baby
In my morning with Anna, we spent some time in stillness and focusing on how I breathe, then we went for a slow walk outdoors so she could illustrate how one should breathe as we walk. Inhale, then exhale as you step forward, inhale, exhale again as you step forward. It’s more complicated than one realizes when you’ve had 40+ years of doing it another (improper?) way!
I look forward to more sessions with Anna and seeing the progression. As a child when I was terribly upset, I could cry so hard that I literally cut off my breath and wouldn’t take air in. This would then push me into hyper-panic mode, making it worse. Someone (my mom or sister or brother) would have to slap me on the back to jolt my breathing. Interesting… I have no idea why that was (past life trauma?) but I have carried that experience through life and have always felt the desire to “breathe better”. In the week prior to my meeting with Anna, I became more aware of my breathing and the moments that I would almost unconsciously hold my breath.
Anna said that this is a long process to learn how to breathe properly but that it’s benefits in all aspects of life are immense. The first step is to connect your awareness to your breathing. I encourage you this week to notice this. Your Breath of Life. What could be more important?
Scrapbooks for the Soul
