Don't forget to BREATHE!
Mga paalala (reminders)
“BREATHE, KEVIN”
I tell myself at least five times a day, whenever I catch myself feeling stressed, hurried, angry, lazy, and tired.
I am naturally a very anxious person. My anxiety revolves around my fixation of planning — for the next event, the future plans, the highest highs, while avoiding the lowest lows. My anxiety also ramps anytime it feels like any potential freedom or opportunity is about to be taken from me and I don’t have control.
How my body somatizes the feeling—or how my physical body manifests the anxiety— is through shallow breathing. I am always breathing out of my throat and chest, and never with my gut. So I tell myself to breathe when I can, and I usually feel a lot better afterwards.
Why breathe deep?
Breathing is probably one of the most important things you can ever do for yourself
What does breathing deep do?
Gives our bodies oxygen which enables the mitochondria to be the powerhouse of the cell
It forces us to quiet our anxious minds and focus on a single thing. That focus allows us to expand our thoughts and become the silent observer.
It forces us to create better posture in our bodies. Standing straight helps manage pain and stress accumulated.
Since my natural state of mind is anxiety I am breathing shallow 24 hours of the day. Therefor, the 5 or 6 times I tell myself to breathe a day are the only times out of the 24 hours I am allowing my body to heal, feel, and remain unattached from the situation at hand.
So what now?
BREATHE!
Don’t let your immediate REACTION PATTERNS to any situation that makes you feel SHALTed (stresed, hurried, angry, lazy or tired). Instead, tell yourself to breathe, focus on your breathe, and RESPOND instead of REACTing.
It can do wonders! At least it did for me :)
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