Tag: breathing relaxation techniques

There’s no doubt most of us are feeling stressed these days.

Our days and nights are filled with responsibilities and tasks. Through technology,
we have become available 24 / 7.  We have to spread our attention across an
incredible array of demands, tasks, challenges and worries. It’s easy to get
sidetracked and mesmerized by all of the information available to us.

If you have any kind of health problem, either chronic or acute, you’ve got one more
thing to add to the stress pile.

And there’s no question that stress, and your response to it, can have a
significant impact on your health.

We can get so used to living in a stressful environment that we become
desensitized to it. Many people live in a low grade state of chronic “fight or
flight”.

In this state, our bodies secrete excess amounts of the fight or flight hormones,
such as cortisol and adrenaline. We tense up, our muscles tighten, and our
breathing becomes more shallow. We may eat poorly and gain weight,
causing us still more stress.

These reactions to stress steal away our vital energy and weaken our immune
system. They also cause us to feel less in control and less confident. This
change in mental outlook can be a vicious cycle, causing us to spiral down
into increasingly frequent and consuming periods of anxiety, worry,
impatience, and fear.

The key to getting the upper hand on stress is self-examination. Are you
living your life in such a way as to maximize harmony? Are your actions
congruent with your most closely held beliefs? Are your actions congruent
with what is good for you?

This is a huge question that requires some thinking and introspection
to answer truthfully. Most of us, if we are being honest with ourselves, will
see that we are creating most of the stress we feel by the poor choices and
decisions we make.

I’m not a psychologist, although psychology was one of my majors in
college. (I sound like one of those actors doing a commercial, in which
they say, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”….) So I’ll not dwell on
this right now (perhaps in a future post).

Introspection and understanding ourselves is very important. But getting to
the point where you can be brutally honest with yourself takes some time.

Personally, I have a bias for action. I’d rather talk about what I can do now in
a proactive way. I’ve found that you can achieve dramatic results in controlling
stress by taking some simple steps. So let’s discuss a couple to get you started.

The first step in controlling stress is to understand that life is difficult. Life’s
not perfect. There will always be stress of some sort.

Many years ago, Dale Carnegie (famous creator of “How to Win Friends and
Influence People”), made the point that, as we pass through the decades of
life, each of us will encounter sadness and misfortune.

It’s how we react to this sadness and misfortune that determines how
stressed we will feel and, by extension, how happy we will be in our lives.

Mark Twain commented when he was older that, as he looked back over his life,                                                                             he realized most of the things he worried about never came to pass. He felt he had                                                               wasted literally years of his life being preoccupied about things that might happen,                                                                      or things he couldn’t control.

The next step is to begin to understand your own response to stress.
Do you thrive on it, or does it beat you down?

Part of your response is physical in nature. In fact, you can observe yourself
and determine how well you are handling life’s stresses — with no introspection
required. Simply observe yourself at random times of the day.

For example, take a look at your posture. How are you standing or sitting? Are
your shoulders, neck and back tight or uncomfortable? Are you hunched over?
Do you frequently stand or sit with arms folded (a protective mechanism)?

Also attend to how you are breathing. Is your breathing rapid and shallow?
Do you feel tightness in your throat or chest? Discomfort in your stomach?
Do you sometimes hold your breath?

Your breathing is involved in every aspect of your life: physical, mental,
emotional, even spiritual. Poor breathing contributes to a huge number of
health problems. It also causes you to live at a lower level of vitality and
prevents you from achieving your full potential.

My belief is that you first have to face up to your present condition. By facing it,
acknowledging it, and breathing into it, you begin to assert power and control
over it. You then can move on to creating, first mentally, then physically, the
reality you want to have in your life.

In my next post, I’ll discuss some more steps for gaining the upper hand
on stress.

You Can Do It!

Karen

http://www.BestBreathingExercises.com

Visualization is most effective when coupled with deep, controlled breathing to
help you get into the proper mental state.

One of the best ways to learn how to breathe properly is to learn and practice the
Complete Breath. Its name indicates that you are using all of the lungs and breathing
apparatus to their natural maximum extent.  This is a fundamental breathing exercise
that you should practice every day. I teach how to perform the Complete Breath in
the Secret Power of Dynamic Energy Exercise Course, Volume 1 (please visit
www.BestBreathingExercises.com for more information).

Performing the Complete Breath on a regular basis is a very effective technique and
an important part of any fitness or health program. Adding targeted visualization and
imagery is even more powerful.

Following is a very powerful breathing and visualization technique that I practice and
recommend. It helps develop robust health and improves vital capacity. It can also
be used to help reduce stress and relieve chronic pain. It helps maximize your energy
levels and can be used as a quick “pick me up” when you feel yourself starting to fade.

Perform this exercise while standing with feet shoulder width apart. This exercise is
designed to enhance your breathing and expand your chi, or internal power.

    Step 1:  Start with hands hanging at your sides. Inhale deeply for a count of 4. As
you inhale, move your arms out to the sides, palms up. Continue moving arms over
your head until your fingers almost touch. Stretch your arms out wide, then up very
high so that you really expand the chest and lengthen the spine. When your hands
are directly above your head, your palms are should be facing down.

    Step 2:  Exhale to a count of 6. As you exhale, push palms straight down in front
of you. Imagine you are helping to push the air out of your lungs until they are completely
emptied. Push your palms down to the level of your abdomen. Then move hands to your
sides. Repeat.

    Step 3:  Once you have the basic breathing and movement pattern down, add this
visualization:

    With the Inhalation:  Imagine clean, white, healing, purifying air entering first your
lungs, then your entire body. The air is sparkling with energy. With every breath, you
pull more of that energy into you.

    With the Exhalation:  Imagine a gray, black cloud of negative energy, toxins and
impurities being expelled from your body.

As you continue breathing, imagine your lungs are becoming cleaner and clearer as
you take in clear air and sparkling energy and force out impurities, toxins, and negative
energy.

Your lungs are now filled with healing blue air—like the relaxing beautiful blue of a clear
sky on a perfect day.

After you have your lungs feeling great, extend the healing blue color throughout your
body. If you have a spot that is particularly tight or painful, breathe the healing energy
into that spot.

This is a great exercise to do on a daily basis. You can use it whenever you need an
energy boost or need to de-stress.

You Can Do It!

Karen

Mind-body medicine has been a staple of traditional medical practices in Asia
for centuries.

You can find this same approach in the traditional healing and medicinal practices
of a wide variety of societies. Aspiring to unify mind, body and spirit is one of the
higher goals of traditional martial arts training, as well.

Involving the mind as well as the body in the prevention or treatment of illness
is a relatively new concept in western medicine. But each year it seems that more
and more research confirms the existence of an indisputable link between our
mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Dr. Herbert Benson, who runs the Mind Body Institute at Harvard University,
has demonstrated that people with the strongest belief systems have greater
rates of survival and optimal healing from surgery than those with no belief system.

Many studies over the years have linked positive emotions, such as a high level
of hope and an attitude of optimism with a stronger immune system. Negative
emotions, such as stress, anger, and depression decrease the body’s ability to
deal with disease and heal itself.

You can even laugh your way to better health.

For a fascinating look into the healing power of laughter and humor, read Norman
Cousin’s book, “Anatomy of an Illness”. He describes his self-healing from serious
disease by watching humorous movies, Three Stooges episodes, and generally
bringing more laughter and optimism into his life.

What does all this mean for you?

Well, as one example, I suffered for years from a very debilitating case of asthma.

Hence my interest in the power of breathing.

I can tell you that my recovery from asthma did not truly begin until I put my mind
and heart, as well as body, into it.

You see, I beat my head against the same wall for years, trying in a sense to
“bull” my way through my asthma. For example, I would ignore symptoms and
try to pretend that they were nothing, or only in my mind. I would try to train
and exercise at a high level, even though I wasn’t physically able at the time.

These practices backfired on me. I ended up causing some pretty serious asthma
attacks, and often made my symptoms worse.

I think that most of us react in a similar fashion to any type of health problem, or
even serious issues in our lives.

Well, I finally wised up and realized there had to be a better way. One of the
first things I did was to turn my mind away from the anxiety, frustration, anger
and stress of my condition.

I’m not talking about “positive thinking” here.

When I began to feel the frustration and anxiety, and suffered from the stress
of not knowing when the next asthma episode would come….I adapted an old
martial arts technique I had been taught. I would shift my attention to my body
and begin to calm it down.

I found that working on myself physically calmed me much more quickly and
deeply than just trying to “think” myself calm.

This method can work for anyone. To test it, next time you are feeling anxious
about a particular health problem, or are stressed out about something (or about
life in general), try the following.

First, focus on your breathing. Slow, deepen and extend your breathing. Do this
naturally, don’t try to strain too much. Just focus on it.

Next, focus positive, calming energy on your heart, solar plexus area, and head.
Then extend the positive, calm focus to your neck, shoulders and lower back.

These are the areas in which stress, tension and anxiety manifest themselves.

Feel these areas loosening and relaxing as you infuse them with calm energy.
You can even visualize these areas glowing with a soothing color. Pick a color
that represents calm and peace to you, such as blue or green, or even pink.
Whatever works.

This principle of focusing on the physical first to control and improve the mental
works in a variety of situations.

For example, many creative types, such as writers, artists and musicians,
will include deep breathing and mental imaging as part of their “pre-creative”
ritual.

Next time you have to sit down and crank through a piece of work, practice
some deep breathing for a few moments. You’ll really feel a difference in your
attitude and ability when you sit down to work.

If you’re into meditation, follow the same routine. Focus on the physical first,
including deep breathing and light movements or stretching. You’ll feel
invigorated. And your ability to focus your mind and enjoy your meditation
will be enhanced.

This same principle is part of the Secret Power of Dynamic Energy Exercise
Course, Volume 1, available at the Best Breathing Exercises website.

In this course, I teach you how to coordinate your breathing to specific
exercises that help calm and loosen your breathing and your body. It’s
a natural antidote to anger, frustration, stress and tension.

It also helps to rejuvenate and invigorate you, both physically and mentally.

Remember, the quickest path to the mind is through the body.

You Can Do It!

Karen

www.BestBreathingExercises.com