Breathing and Relaxing
You don't need to fall into the
stress mode
of life. You can use breath to
relax, rather
than stress, your mind and body.
Yoga helps
you to relearn that natural state
that your
body and mind want to be in:
relaxation.
Deep breathing is both calming
and energizing.
The energy you feel from a few
minutes of
careful breathe is not nervous
or hyper,
but that calm, steady energy
we all need.
Slow, steady, and quiet breathing
gives a
message to your nervous system:
Be calm.
Whole books have been written
on yoga breathing.
Here is one 5-minute Breath Break.
(Read
through the instructions several
times before
you try the practice.)
1. Sit with your spine as straight
as possible.
Use a chair if necessary but
don't slump
into it. Feet flat on the floor
with knees
directly over the center of your
feet. Use
a book or cushion under your
feet if they
do not rest comfortably on the
floor. Hands
are on the tops of your legs.
2. Close your eyes gently and
let them rest
behind closed lids.
3. Think about your ribs, at
the front, back,
and at the sides of your body.
Your lungs
are behind those ribs.
4. Feel your lungs filling up,
your ribs
expanding out and up. Feel your
lungs emptying,
your ribs coming back down and
in. Don't
push the breath.
5. The first few times you do
this, do it
for 2 to 3 minutes, then do it
for up to
5 to 10 minutes. At first, set
aside a time
at least once a day to do this.
When you
learn how good it makes you feel,
you'll
want to do it at other times
as well.
Just as one stressful situation
goes into
your next challenge, relaxing
for a few minutes
every day gradually carries over
into the
rest of your daily life and activities.
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