Three Short Meditations on…BREATH

From your first inhale as a newborn, to your last exhale at end of life, your breath travels with you like a constant companion. I like to think of it like waves at the beach, endlessly coming in and going out.

Emotions effect breath; when you are calm, the breath moves deeply and effortlessly, if you are upset, your breath may feel restricted, or elevated.

Luckily, breath can also effect emotions, so when we consciously steady the breath we are able to change how we are feeling, perhaps modifying emotions enough to be able to work through some of the underpinning issues.

Can I just add here that I certainly don’t feel that some emotions are good and some bad! I really welcome all of human experience, especially in the expressive arts! Also, there are sometimes real reasons to be responding with high anxiety, and your body is looking after you when it is suggesting fight, flight or freeze!

However if you are experiencing heightened emotions disproportionate to what’s happening in your environment, you will need to get back into your “window of tolerance” in order to be able to do anything requiring higher cognition, including working through any issues therapeutically... or just getting through your day.

Here are three simple ways to become aware of the breath and use it as a tool for self- regulation.