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Mindfulness: During my recent meditation retreat, one of the teachers read a
teaching in which the Buddha reminded us to "breathe easy."
It's easy to forget about our breathing. In fact most of us never think about it at all, unless we're having some trouble with it. But if you pay attention to your breath, you may be surprised by how much it changes as your state of mind changes. You might also notice that you can change your state of mind by changing the way you breathe.
When we're excited, or stressed, we breathe faster and our breath becomes more shallow. When we are completely relaxed, we are actually breathing more slowly and more deeply.
Focusing on our breathing brings us into our bodies and into the present moment. After all, your body is always in the present moment. It's the mind that wanders hither and yon - chattering away, playing music, replaying past conversations, creating assumed futures.
Often when we're stressed, there's increased chatter in the mind. People report feeling like their mind is "racing." It's like they're being flooded with thoughts.
This brings us back to Buddha's teaching - breathe easy.
When we slow our breathing, our mind slows with it. We begin to relax. It's a great way to relieve stress.
Here are a few ways to do that:
· Take long slow deep breaths, including long exhalations (about ten or so). This will slow your heart rate and help relax your back and shoulder muscles.
· Take a few minutes to breathe so that your inhalations and exhalations are of equal length (count to five in your head for each in breath and each out breath). This also gradually slows the heart rate.
· Relax your diaphragm. That’s the muscle below your lungs that helps you breathe in. To do this place your hand in the center of your belly, just above your navel. Take slow deep breaths in a way that pushes your hand outward. This is a particularly good quick fix if you’re feeling anxious.
At the end of the teaching, the teacher offered us a challenge – what in your life is worth not breathing easy? Sure, there are important issues and things that matter. But breathing faster doesn’t help us cope with them. It just adds to our anxiety state, which distracts us from coping with the sources of stress in our lives.
So, breathe easy. You might want to try taking a few minutes a couple of times a day and notice how you’re breathing. Then take a moment to slow down and breathe easy. Or any time you’re feeling stressed and anxious, make a conscious effort to breathe easy. See what happens.
