Hi ADIO Community,
Here is a guest blog post written by Abby Maroko. Enjoy!
All too often, I see people sabotaging their very own health with the most basic healing mechanism of all: the breath.
Holding the breath, gulping air into the chest, slouching over and cutting off the respiratory circuit. While it is an innocent act of unhealthy behavior, this habitual shallow mouth breathing comes at a clear and palpable cost: a depressed outlook, a repressed mind, decreased healing times and a suppressed immune system.
I’m guilty of it, too.
Stress hits and mounts and if we are not vigilant and diligent with our breathing patterns, we default to an anxious pattern of breathing which only feeds dis-ease within the human body.
Here is the good news: by changing your breathing patterns now you can change your life forever. Control your breath – control your mind.
Give these three tried-and-true breathing practices a go to build a stronger immune system, more grounded presence, and feel the love within as the snowflakes drop from the sky.
3 PRACTICES TO BREATHE BETTER THIS SEASON AND IN THE FUTURE
Physiological Sigh
A breathing technique called the “Physiological Sigh” is like healing gold for your nervous system. It is drawn from the basic human reflex of crying and then gasping for air as you return to homeostasis.
How to: With your lips sealed, take a deep breath in through your nose and when you feel you’ve reached your maximum inhale, take one more sip of air in through your nostrils. Exhale out of your mouth fully feeling your muscles relax as you let go.
You really only need to do 1-3 of these to make a shift from a more fight-flight state to rest-digest mode; but if you sense you need more, keep going. Studies have shown that 5 minutes of this breathing pattern can work as a potent solvent for depression, generating a calmer body and more positive affect while reducing anxiety.
Single-Pointed Awareness
In a world that is tempting our attention in a million directions, this technique allows us to root our full gaze in one place, through the breath. “Single-Pointed Awareness”-or dharana as it is called in Sanskrit, is a practice of narrowing your mind’s eye to a single point of sensation or observation.
How to: Pick just one sensation or point of contact to focus each breath on. For example, the tiny space between your upper lip and the tip of your nose. With your lips sealed and belly relaxed, breathe in through your nose and as you exhale, feel the tiny puff of air hit that small space.
Try 5 minutes of this magical breath practice and notice your attention funnel into a calm single flow.
Open Heart Breath
Breathing is a cyclical mechanism of taking and giving, each of which should be considered wisely. What we take in will feed our every cell, and what we let go will get recycled into clean air once again.
How to: Call to mind a time that you felt pure lovingkindness being given to you. Remember the sweetness in your heart, the smile on your mouth, the peace in your posture, the sense of calm that hugged your whole nervous system. Allow that feeling to grow and intensify until you feel it in every cell of your body. Allow yourself to smile if it feels right. Allow the light to carry out whatever energy has expired and needs to go.
Breathe well.
For even better breathing and 1-on-1 fitness and mindset coaching with Abby, book a call here or visit abbymaroko.com. Coaching offered in-person in the Greater Denver region and online.
Sources:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/a_five_minute_breathing_exercise_for_anxiety_and_mood