Taking a Breath and Coming Back to Center
Posted by admin on July 29, 2009Do you ever notice as you go through your day, that occasionally you find yourself sighing or breathing deeply? Within that brief moment, you may come back to center and notice that you are actually breathing. How many times throughout the day, do we take our breath for granted? Our amazing respiratory and autonomic nervous system keeps us breathing, our heart pumping, our immune system regulated and our body functioning, without us even noticing. It never stops. Often, it’s not until we take time to slow down enough, do we notice this magnificent inter-play of perfection.
Notice as you view the video how easy it is to come back to center simply by noticing your breath. It’s right under your nose..!
Catherine VanWetter is a Holistic Family Healing Practitioner trained in a variety of healing techniques that help people find Inner Peace Through Generational Family Healing. She invites you to be gentle, compassionate, and courageous as you put down your weapon of choice and step into a field of Grace. Additional information on this and similar topics are available at Catherine’s website, blog and radio program “Inspirations of the Heart Radio”.
Catherine invites you to a complimentary copy of her Morning Meditation, Welcoming A New Day. All may be found at http://www.ToTheHeartOfTheMatter.com.
Overcoming Adversity with Grace – FREE ebook http://www.overcomersbook.com/grace
Catherine, thank you for reminding usto breathedeeply and slowly in order to fill our lives with peace. We can get so busy racing around and breathing shallowly that pausing for a moment of stillness and deep breathing can vastly improve our lives.
I always like to remind myself to breathe from my belly, not my chest. When I draw a breath in from my belly, it brings in more air automatically.
Another tip is to pause at the top of every hour for 5-10 deep breaths. This works well in work situations, giving you a mini stress break while you are at your desk.
Thanks again, Catherine, for this moment of peace!
Lynne Klippel
Catherine,
Just watching you bask in the sun and be relaxed helped me to calm down.
Thanks for the tips to remember to breathe!
Colleen
Breathing is such a normal part of life that we take for granted but most of us don´t do a very good job of it! Thanks Catherine for the lovely reminder.
Hi Catherine,
The video clip of you in your beautiful garden made me reflect on how critical breathing awareness is to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, yet it’s something we barely acknowledge. The first thing we do when we enter our lives is breathe; the last thing we do as we exit this lifetime is to release our final breath. And in between we will breathe on average, 16 times every minute, which over a lifetime of 80 years will total 672,768,000 breaths of life. Yet in this culture we pay so little attention to the one thing that our very lives depend upon. We can last for a few days without water, longer without food, but we depend on the next breath, the one we are all breathing right now, to keep us alive.
Breathing is the foundation of much of our wellness. Slow deep, mindful abdominal breathing lowers our heart and respiration rates, decreases blood pressure and muscle tension, and increases the oxygen supply to our brains which in turn aids in mental concentration. In addition, slow abdominal breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, the “feed/breed” mode (as opposed to the “fight/flight” mode), which induces a sense of calm and connectedness between mind and body. Cultivating breath awareness is an essential skill for people struggling with anxiety or panic disorders, as it is the doorway to the body’s relaxation response. Most people who suffer with either of these debilitating problems breathe shallowly, high up in the chest area. Learning to breathe deeply from the abdomen is the first step in interrupting the pattern of nervous system arousal that leads to out-of-control anxiety or fear.
Lastly, and most importantly, breathing is the entrée to a connection with the Divine. Start and end your day by remembering that your breath is a gift from the Divine. Visualize yourself breathing in Divine love, breathing out fear. Breathe in hope, breathe out disappointment and discouragement. Breathe in peace, breathe out peace to the world around you.
Blessings,
Margaret
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