Why breath is important
Breath is life. It creates space inside our body, and energy needs space to flow. It keeps us alive on the physical level and it's amazing how many illnesses, especially disorders associated with stress and anxiety, are affected by our lack of breathing. Think about it... when you're tense or very focused, you actually hold your breath, you hold the tension as if that will somehow help the task at hand. Truth is, irregular breathing creates more tension on physical and emotional levels. If you breathe fully, you will be free of disease and you will begin to live harmoniously in the world. Be aware of your breath throughout the day and relax into your life. 

There are many different breathing techniques that are listed below but the basics are to breathe slowly and deeply in and out through your nose and from your diaphragm. Basically you want the breath to fill your stomach area, not your chest.

Breathing

30 Second Slow Down

I sometimes call this anti-stress or re-patterning breathing. Once you train yourself to breathe deeply every time you feel stressed out, you will really see a change and have a greater awareness of how you hold your energy. For relaxation breathing to become instinctual, it takes practice and awareness. This is a good one to do discreetly when in a meeting, before you make a tough call, during a stressful conversation or anytime you feel crazy. You can do this anytime, anywhere.

Take a deep slow breath in... and out... in... and out... in... and out. I like to envision all tension, stress and negativity falling away with every exhale.

3 breaths to changing behaviors

I spent a week in Costa Rica at a retreat called Pura Vida. I love yoga, eco-adventures and healing retreats; they are always profound. But, my point is, that I had never worked with my breath the way I did that week and I have never felt the benefits as I did that week. It's called Hum Sa because this is supposed to be the sacred sound our breath makes as we inhale (Hum) and exhale (Sa). As you are breathing in, imagine that your breath is actually filling your vessel. Breathe and feel the air going in through the top part of your nose and traveling down to the base of your spine. Let yourself fill up with air, filling up your stomach to the point where your chest fills up as well. Putting your right hand above your navel and the left on your chest might help you become accustomed to this new movement. Notice how full you can become. Before you begin the next inhalation, just as a metronome pauses before it reverses direction, slow down your rhythm for several seconds. When you reach this point in your breathing, it is as though time does not exist and you are fully in the present.

Then release the breath from the chest downward or, in other words, so that the hand on your chest deflates before the hand on your stomach area. Really exhale all the way out, allowing the toxins and carbon dioxide to flow out. This breath is heavier and you will feel it exiting through the bottom part of your nose. Let your thoughts pass by like clouds. Feel negativity and tension draining from you.

Focused, deep breathing helps transform the air we breathe into energy. The thoughts we have during our breathing exercises affect the vibrancy of the energy. Think happy thoughts and trust that you are doing it correctly and you will be doing it correctly.

Practice this in a quiet moment to get the flow and then start applying it in your daily life whenever you feel stress or fear.

Breathing

Tony & Tina