“Waterfalls start with a single stream. In many ways water is symbolic of life; sometimes turbulent, sometimes calm, but always flowing. Let’s be inspired to not be in a hurry today, but do things with a quiet mind and calm spirit … even if the outside world is rushing by” – Anonymous
The brain and body share an extraordinarily close relationship; in order to create a life with both stability and balance it is essential to understand how emotions manifest and impact the physical body. The modern brain is in a constant state of information overload – consistently receiving feedback from many different avenues including auditory, visual, and tactile. This overloaded state has become a baseline or new “normal” for many to function in. Keeping the brain and body in a state of hyper-vigilance (even subconsciously) can lead to exhaustion, burn out, and/or depressive thoughts and feelings.
Exploration of thoughts and feelings in the body can be extremely challenging, especially if it is new. As invasive or troubling feelings arise (big or small) a natural response is to combat or suppress these feelings with exterior coping skills. How many times have you heard a person say “today has been one of those days, I could really use a drink!” Often this rhetorical phrase translates into the use of unhealthy coping skills or even more overloaded scheduling for the purpose of distraction. These fleeting mental escapes can actually do more damage than good to a person’s health because they are short term solutions that do not tackle the true underlying issues.
Yoga is one holistic solution to emotional assessment and awareness; it offers a safe space to be able to sit with any feelings that naturally arise, allows for a deeper understanding of emotional triggers, and the ability to utilize specific breath work to re-train the brains reactionary response. Manipulation of the breath can cool the body down, warm the body up, and literally transform the chemical levels in the brain. Yoga incorporates both mindfulness and meditation which evoke different responses from the brain. Mindfulness activates the part of the brain responsible for attention and control (the pre-frontal cortex) where mediation (especially compassion based meditation) stimulates the limbic system by bringing emotions to conscious awareness in order to process them.
Generally speaking, connecting more intuitively with the brain/body response creates room to be able to FEEL life and prevent redundancy, disengagement, and “auto-pilot” mode. Showing up to your life fully present takes continual work and effort. Creating rituals or setting aside specific times to practice and access breath work trains the body and brain to be able to access skills in order to navigate higher level stress situations with ease; just like muscles, the brain needs to be active and engaged in order to strengthen. Breath work does not need to be limited to extreme situations of stress or dysregulation – it can be helpful in just about any situation (especially as a preventative measure before getting heightened) and can be access literally anywhere.
Here is an example of a brief breath exercise to help guide your body back to a peaceful baseline:
· Begin by closing the eyes or fixing a fuzzy gaze
· Imagine a peaceful place, either one you have experienced or one you would like to experience
· Access all of your senses beginning with smell; take a long, deep inhale (what do you smell?), exhale the breath, pause at empty
· Take a long, deep inhale, (what do you feel?) – warmth, a breeze, a chill? Exhale the breath, pause at empty
· Take a long, deep inhale, (what do you hear?) – birds, waves, the music of nature? Exhale the breath, pause at empty
· Take a long, deep inhale, (what do you see?) – the ocean, mountains, someone you love? Exhale the breath, pause at empty
· Take a long, deep inhale (what do you taste?) – your favorite treat, sweet, sour? Exhale the breath, pause at empty
Take three more long, deep breaths – feeling your personal oasis encompass your senses and guide you to emotional freedom. Take the peaceful place with you as you journey back to reality and tackle any challenge with strength and ease.
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