We breathe every second, minute, hour, day... if we don't, we will not survive. It is the vital force, the prana, the qi. Since it is something that we do automatically, we never pay close attention to it. It becomes a robotic task and we take it for granted. What will happen if we stop breathing? What if we learn to breathe consciously and not robotically? What if we do some research to learn the effects of proper breathing on our bodies & minds?
We often get overwhelmed by daily activities such as family, work, news, taking care of the house & getting distracted by social media... Covid has recently been the cherry on the top as well! The result of it is accumulation of stress & research shows that the root cause of many diseases is related to anxiety which leads to the increase of cortisol or stress hormone in our physical bodies. Stress has become our close friend these days… When our monkey mind wanders and it focuses on the negative, there won't be enough space to create, just like a dirty & unorganized closet. You are looking for your favourite shirt for ages but you can’t find it. With lots of efforts you might be able to find it but it needs to get washed and ironed. Same with your thoughts, memories & emotions. Your mind needs to get refreshed & decluttered once in a while otherwise it will become cloudy, anxious, filled with negativity and our inner voice gets suffocated.
What if you wake up one day and decide to partner up with peace & positivity to decrease cortisol by learning how to breathe consciously, putting aside some time for self-care to get recharged and refreshed? Are you ready to go to a new space you have not been before? It is soft and comforting and once you experience it you want to stay there forever, because your whole nervous system relaxes, the cortisol decreases, you become focused and connected to your intuition. It can take you to a dark, scary & uncomfortable place too which is part of the process. All you need to do is to breathe through it.
If you are ready to put aside some time, even 8 minutes a day and become comfortable with the uncomfortable, you are ready to grow and meditate. Hence, the golden key is to prioritize our daily tasks, get disciplined for some self-maintenance. To charge your batteries and create some space for yourself.
When we meditate, we allow ourselves to inhale deeply and exhale completely, with full presence and awareness. Our mind that has always been active finally finds a chance to rest and experience a passive state. When we meditate, we do not intend to fall asleep, we find the golden key to open a very important door to go inwards, to explore ourselves and enter a quiet space. We give ourselves permission to fully relax but stay alert. We create space to contemplate, concentrate, connect to your intuition and creativity that will eventually lead to a thriving life style.
There are a few questions before we go deeper:
Can you put aside some time for meditation?
How to meditate properly?
What are the scientific effects of meditation?
If you are interested to know more, stay with me! We will investigate and answer these questions in the upcoming newsletters.
Kung Fu Panda - Have you seen this cartoon? If you haven’t, add it to your list!