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When
Christopher Columbus arrived in the new world and landed on his
rowboat…the natives could not see his ship out at sea!
Their
familiarity with their environment and the ocean in particular was such
that they couldn’t perceive the ship (something they had never even
imagined before). An elder medicine man that had the flexibility of
perception had to describe the ship to his fellow tribesmen before they
could see it.
This
same familiarity applies to how we perceive our breathing.
To
the ancient Indian system of Yoga, breathing is considered to be so
important that before any task a yogi first prepares his/her breathing.
Proper breath control is considered the key to healthy living. In fact,
learning to do proper diaphragmatic breathing has been proven to reduce
stress and anxiety permanently.
Our
breathing is something that we have become so familiar with that we are
almost completely unaware of its effects. Consider this, our breath
bridges our conscious and unconscious i.e. unconsciously we are always
breathing and at any time we can consciously focus on our breathing.
This is important to
remember because all our emotional states are reflected in our breathing.
If we are stressed our breathing tends to be shallow and focused in our
upper lungs. In fact jerky
breathing itself will actually increase anxiety and stress. While when we
are relaxed we tend to breathe fully into our belly. Knowing this you can
observe yourself and know when its time to consciously take control of
your breathing to control your stress.
Practicing belly
breathing (diaphragmatic breathing) can be extremely beneficial and can be
done anytime. Just follow this
simple method…
Sit or stand with your
back straight, put your hand on your belly and breath in a slow and deep
pattern. Don’t try to overfill the lungs or empty them - just breath
softly but fully - expanding your belly on the inhale and contracting on
the exhale. Keep your attention focused on your breathing. You will find
that your mind will tend to drift. That is normal. Simply return your
attention to your breath when you notice you got distracted. Allow the
relaxation from this breathing pattern to spread through your body and
just enjoy yourself.
This
next one may come as a surprise to you…stress can cause the blood to
drain from your forehead! This seriously diminishes your thinking ability.
This
is a natural biological response to remove blood from your brain to your
body so you can fight or run (the famous fight or flee mechanism). This is
perfectly fine for when we roamed the plains but in modern day living we
don’t need to fight at work or run away from it. We have to learn to not
only cope but to excel.
Fortunately
there are two points on your forehead, that in the ancient Chinese system
of Acupuncture are called the ‘neuro-vasculars’. If you hold these
points lightly, with a little deep breathing, they will bring the blood
back into your brain!
These
points are located about one inch above the center of your eyebrows. To
make sure you got it, put the palm of your right hand on your right sight
of your forehead so that the ‘ball’ of your forehead is in the center
of your palm. Same for the left side. Breathe deeply while holding
lightly.
The
2-minute stress relief technique is simple.
When you feel stressed, angry,
nervous, under pressure etc. Sit down with your back straight and feet
flat on the floor. Hold your neuro-vascular points while doing
diaphragmatic breathing. In 2 minutes, you will feel more relaxed and
clear headed.
(Note: To enhance this technique,
simply imagine a relaxing scene, such as a walk in a beautiful park. This
adds to the mental relaxation)
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