Okay I promise this is the last post inspired by a TV commercial… okay I can’t truly commit to that 🙂
Travel Alberta has a couple of great commercials with the tag line “Remember to Breathe”. The imagery coupled with the amazing song “Here we go” by Wil actually relaxes me every time I see it. I noticed that my breathing actually slows down to match the emotional rhythm of the ad.
Until about a year ago I pretty much never remembered to breathe, don’t get me wrong I was breathing but I wasn’t consciously aware of my breathing. The moment I began to be more mindful of my breathing everything changed. Suddenly I had a conscious way to check in on my emotional state.
Think about how you breathe when you’re angry or when you’re happy or what about when you’re sad or if you are feeling tenderness towards another person. Each of those emotions has a very distinct breathing pattern. If you can learn to recognize the patterns, then you can also learn to shift in and out of different emotions just by changing how you breathe.
Everyone knows that taking a deep breath will help calm you down if you are upset. What do you think would happen if you took five deep breaths? Try it right now, I’ll Wait.
1 Â Â Â Â Â 2 Â Â Â Â Â 3 Â Â Â Â Â 4 Â Â Â Â Â 5
I have a good friend named Laura who has taught me a lot about mindfulness, specifically about how being mindful leads to both peace and feeling present. When I was a kid the word present meant one thing… GIFTS! Now as an adult I still link the two words but in a different way. Now I see the ability to be present as a beautiful gift.
I’ve learned so much in the last couple of years about how awareness of our breathing can impact and connect our spiritual, emotional and physical worlds. I’m sure anyone who has tried Meditation (which I will write about in more detail) or Yoga Nidra can attest to the power of breathing and the feeling of being present.
Remember to Breathe
jb