Explore the breath and go inward sitting in silence.
Coping with overthinking, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, and a constant sense of pressure seems to be an ongoing challenge that many face daily. Life often feels like we are too busy and lack sufficient time for ourselves. We struggle to disconnect from our devices and frequently check social media, emails, and YouTube, to name a few. For many, work can reach us day and night through email, text, and some apps, never giving us time to disconnect.
When we take the time to check in with ourselves and pay attention to our breath, many or most will notice they are shallow breathing, not taking in and exhaling enough breath. Shallow breathing can cause elevated feelings of anxiety and stress, experience shortness of breath (asthma symptoms), feeling overwhelmed, and struggling to think clearly.
Ultimately, our body operates in “fight or flight” mode, in adrenaline overdrive, and excretes too much cortisol. This results in side effects such as difficulty sleeping, inability to slow down the mind, constant restlessness, irritability, anger, or emotionality, and difficulty coping or making good decisions. Below are a couple of morning breath techniques I covered and explored with those in the room during the workshop.
Consciously connecting to your breath changes everything. Starting your day breathing correctly is a total game-changer. Instead of waking up (with or without an alarm), jumping out of bed, and starting the day on the run, take 1-5 minutes to land in your body, connect to who you are and breathe.
Counting whilst breathing is a great way to simplify your thoughts, for your mind is clear and focused. An easy number count technique is 4 counts in: pause: 4 counts out, repeat as many times as you like. (5-6 breaths or longer) Another great morning technique is “alternate nostril’ breathing, placing a finger in-between your eyebrows or slightly above, closing one nostril with your ring or index finger, breathing in and out through the open side: alternate the nostril with a finger and repeating the process. Close off a nostril by alternating left and right for at least 4 rounds. Someone rarely has both sides balanced, breathing equally, each side first thing in the morning. You may notice one side is slightly or more blocked than the other; persist gently without fear, and you will feel a slow unblocking and nostril clearing. Note that every day will be different.
Want to know or learn more? I host workshops in my local area in Toogoolawah, held on the second Tuesday of each month. Contact me via email at carine@blissoutbycc.com.au or blissoutbycc@pm.me