A Lesson In Breathing

A Lesson In Breathing

breathe in, breathe out,

just one moment

hand on heart,

and breathe.

notice,

shallow, deep,

taken for granted.

lengthen, deepen,

breathe.

inhale, exhale,

thinking unneeded.

this moment,

not another,

here, now,

just breathe.

 

Day 14 – Breathe

#reverb11 is a prompt driven writing project during the month of December. Its purpose is to inspire reflection and create intention for the coming year.

 

17 conversations started on “A Lesson In Breathing

  1. YES! I tell my clients to breathe all the time, and I can almost see them rolling their eyes at me at first. But it really is the best way to get out of your head and back into your body and this moment and it creates a physiological response.

    When we’re stressed, overwhelmed or simply in high-productivity mode we tend to breathe very shallowly which triggers an adrenaline response which further feeds the shallow breathing and round and round it goes. 

    The beautiful thing is that the same is true in reverse. When we take a few moments to close our eyes (shutting out all the visual stimuli) and to take a few slow, deep breaths…it also triggers a physiological response. Only this time, it’s a relaxation response. 

    It’s amazing what just a few moments of conscious breathing can do for your energy, focus, clarity, creativity, and overall sense of well-being. 

    Thanks for a really beautiful reminder, Sandi. 

  2. Thanks, I needed this.  My meditation and prayer practice has gotten lost in the holiday shuffle the last couple of weeks.  Ironic, because its a times like these that I need them the most.

    1. It’s so easy for self-care practices to fall by the wayside during the holidays. That’s why I focused on breath in this post. Even just 60 seconds of awareness to breath can alter a mood, lower stress, etc. I wrote it to remind myself that it IS that simple. 

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