- Sit and relax in your favorite quiet place. Some of you may have been lying down previously, but it’s easier to hear and feel the full effect of your heartbeat while sitting. Rest your hands palm up in your lap or lightly on your knees. Relax your jaw and allow soft eyes.
- Begin to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. With each breath slow the inhale and the exhale down a bit until you reach a comfortable rhythm (lesson 1). This is your time so allow your mind to relax. Let your cares and thoughts float away by coming back home to your breath and how it feels to breathe.
- When you are ready add deeper breaths slowly. Be aware of how you feel as your deeper breaths relax your lungs (lesson 2).
- On your next inhalation, pause (lesson 3) and suspend breathing for 4 seconds before slowly exhaling and pausing for 4 seconds. Allow each breath to flow slowly into the next. Reminder - if you are not breathing slow and deep enough you may find yourself lightheaded.
- Once you reach a comfortable rhythm, listen for your heartbeat whenever you pause. There's no need to over think this, allow your heartbeat to rise above the noise in your head. Please note that hearing and feeling your heartbeat does not necessarily happen right away. It takes practice as with any breathing exercise. But once you become aware of heart focus, it’s always there for you with every beat of your heart.
- Enjoy this exercise for 15 minutes or longer each morning, throughout your day as often as you would like, and before you drift off to sleep. Adding more time will help achieve a successful breathing practice.
It Is What It Is
Inspiring others to learn from the circumstances of their lives...
Friday, February 19, 2021
Breathing Practice 4 Heart Focus
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Breathing Practice 3 Pause
- Sit or lie down in your favorite quiet place with your hands in your lap or on your stomach. If you've been lying down, you may want to try sitting and vice versa. Relax your jaw and allow soft eyes.
- Now simply begin to breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. With each breath slow the inhale and the exhale down until you reach a comfortable rhythm. Remember this is your time so allow your mind to relax. Let your cares and thoughts float away by coming back home to your breath and how it feels to breathe.
- Begin welcoming deeper breaths slowly. Be aware of how you feel as your deeper breaths relax and expand your lungs.
- After your next inhalation, hit pause and suspend breathing for 4 seconds before slowly exhaling. Experiment with hitting pause after you exhale. If this is going well, try hitting pause after the inhalation and exhalation. Become aware of which breathing pattern you are most comfortable as you bring conscious thought to your breath patterns.
- Continue the rest of the exercise with the most comfortable pause pattern. There should be no gasping for air as each inhalation-pause-exhalation-pause flows into the next. If you are not breathing slow and deep enough (a common occurrence for all us shallow breathers) you may find yourself lightheaded, so breathe s-l-o-w-l-y. This is not a race!
- Do this exercise for 15 minutes or longer each morning, throughout your day as often as you would like, and as you drift off to sleep. Adding more time will help achieve a successful breathing pattern over time.
Friday, January 22, 2021
Breathing Practice 2 Awareness
- As with Breathing Practice 1, find a comfortable space to sit or lie down. This time make sure it’s a quiet space. In the morning I prefer a bright room, and at night I prefer a dimmer setting or even a dark room. It’s up to you. This is your time.
- If you are sitting, rest your hands on your lap, or on your stomach if you are lying down.
- Again, tuck your chin slightly, relax your jaw, and allow your eyelids to lightly close (soft eyes).
- Breathe, and welcome the natural flow of your breath allowing your mind to relax. If a thought flows by, allow it to do just that, flow by and come back to your breath.
- This week we will add conscience thought. Begin to welcome deeper breaths slowly. Then concentrate on breathing and what it feels like as it moves in and out. Feel the sensation of breathing. Is it warm or cold? If cold, notice if and when it warms. Is it a calm breeze or a wild storm? If a wild storm, notice if and when it calms. Is it loose or tight? If tight, notice if and when it loosens up. Also, how do you feel when breathing deeper? With this exercise you are shifting attention to your body and becoming more aware. Through awareness we change.
- Do this exercise for 10 minutes or longer each morning, throughout your day as often as you would like, and as you drift off to sleep.
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Breathing Practice 1 Just Breathe
It sounds so easy to simply take a breath, but most of us don’t breathe fully, and thus don’t receive the full benefits of what taking-in a little more oxygen can do. Focused breathing is how we begin to be mindful. It guides us to being fully present in the moment.
- Sit with a relaxed posture in a chair or on a mat on the floor. Just be as comfortable as you would like to be. You can even lie down.
- If you are sitting, rest your hands on your lap, or on your stomach if you are lying down.
- Tuck your chin slightly and relax your jaw.
- Allow your eyelids to lightly close (soft eyes).
- Now, breathe in slowly through your nose, and out through your mouth.
- Tune into the natural flow of your breath and allow your mind to relax.
- If a thought flows by, allow it to do just that then come back to your breath.
- Do this for 10 minutes or longer each morning, throughout your day as often as you would like, and as you drift off to sleep.
Monday, January 4, 2021
Finding Mindfulness in 2021
It was good, it was bad, it was ugly, and now it’s over. While January may not feel any different from December, a new year gives rise to the possibilities of the year ahead. Like so many of you, I’ve felt the pull of the ups and downs of this last year more than any other time in my life on global, national, and personal fronts, but I am driven by the vision of a better life for all of us as we move forward in 2021.
Since 2005 I've selected a personal intention word/theme each year. 2020s word was possibilities. I began each day with the intention to see the possibilities in the day ahead. It was an interesting word for me considering what possibilities I had contemplated at the beginning of the year and all the turmoil that erupted just a few months later. But it served me well and was a positive force as I considered the possibilities day after day. Some days it held me up, other days it pulled me forward, but possibilities always guided me to a better place. I know that possibilities will continue to be a part of me, as all my other word themes over the years have been. So, with gratitude I now let possibilities make way for my new word - mindful. Just what is mindful or mindfulness, let’s just say it’s a way of being present in thought and action. It’s awareness on steroids!