Insomnia, Impatience And Wasted Time

WASTED TIME is actually FOUND TIME. Such fragments actually add up to a potentially productive total by the end of your week if you prepare ahead of time.

In ADVANCE select a couple of your favorite breathing exercises that don’t require a lot of movement. Actually, deep slow steady breathing will do or you could simply begin by counting your breaths.

Since there never seems to be enough time to practice mindful breathing, meditation or contemplation, planning ahead will help you do something useful during those unscheduled disruptions of your schedule. You will be taking charge of the situation and using your time wisely.

So when the bus is late, when the elevator is slow, when you are on “hold” for days, when you are stuck in gridlock, launch one of your pre-planned breathing exercises and be grateful for the luxury of that rare bit of found time.

Otherwise, you will trigger stress chemistry that squirts into your body and your time will be worse than wasted.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Chronic Stress: When Good Systems Go Bad

CHRONIC STRESS is a huge, spiky, scaly, drooling monster that lurks in the shadows, waiting to drop a whoop-ass load of damage onto your physical, emotional and intellectual self. You are designed to manage short bursts of stress quite easily but you are simply not designed to carry that load 24/7.

The Stress Monster thrives not so much on circumstances AROUND YOU but on the habits and attitudes WITHIN YOU. Stress loves to make you old too soon and sick too often.

Simply put, we poison ourselves with our own stress chemistry.

Hiked up adrenaline reactive behavior is an essential part of our survival but turning it on unnecessarily or forgetting to turn it off can be more dangerous than the original threat. GET THROUGH IT AND GET OVER IT.

Anticipate the situations that trigger anger, worry and fear. Prepare for them IN ADVANCE. Always keep a couple of favorite relaxing breathing exercises in your hip pocket and defuse this sucker before it kills you!

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

The Angry Voice

There is an ancient saying, “Anger blows out the lamp of the mind.”

Anger that is out of control damages your reputation, accomplishes nothing, stresses your cardiovascular system and can even put your life at risk. Then there is honorable anger that focuses energy and helps to fuel a noble cause and often shines a light on a situation that needs to be exposed. Hopefully you avoid the road rage, the temper tantrums and the bar fights but know when to use honorable anger with discretion.

When you are dealing with your honorable anger (as opposed to pitching a fit), it is important to keep control of your sound. If you are angry over an issue or condition and you hope to quickly gain respect or at least understanding for your point of view, then the quality of your voice is important.

The next time you hear someone so outraged that they are completely out of control, notice how their voice becomes high and jagged, their breathing shallow and erratic, their speech and logic stupid and their veins popped. Could someone in this stupid-rage red-faced mode change your mind about anything?

Remember that YOUR VOICE IS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR BREATHING and you have wonderful control of your breathing. Take a second to relax your jaw and tongue, breathe out stale air, relax your tummy and get air deep into your lungs and then let the justifiable anger rip.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Accessing Emotions

Because your breathing is an essential part of your mind, your body and your spirit, it is no surprise that your emotions are mirrored in your breathing. A sad breath is different from an angry breath is different from a frightened breath is different from a weary breath. Very different.

Since your breathing threads through all aspects of your being, it is therefore possible to shape the way you are feeling by adjusting the way you are breathing.

If you need to dissipate your anger quickly or at least hide it, then stop breathing like an angry person. Notice that when you are depressed or tired or sad you may take small infrequent breaths in the center of the chest. Sometimes you will sigh because you are getting low on oxygen. You may hold your breath when you are frightened and breathe quickly and erratically when you are angry.

Good basic breathing that is low, slow, steady and wide will serve you well regardless of your emotional temperature at the moment. Breathing deeply and slowly will help center you in just a few breaths.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.