*Breathing*

*Sunday*Haze*, originally uploaded by Annelogue.

I don’t concider myself a hippy. On the other hand, I’ve actually just started doing breathing exercises. I had no idea that deep breaths could make me feel so good! I’ve been having chest pains for a while, which I found super scary. It hurt so much that I though I was having a heart attack. It turned out that it was just muscle tension…that seriously hurt. All day, I sit in front of my computer and even if I’m trying hard not to stress, I still struggle with lack of energy and tiredness. If there is only a slight increase in pressure at work, I feel my concentration take a dip. Now I’ve figured out why. I’m not breathing right. When I’m at my desk I sit slightly hunched over and I’m only breathing with my upper body. That means that my daily breathing resembles hyperventilation and I’m not getting enough oxygen to my brain, which explains the dips in concentration.
So I practise deep breathing through Mindfulness meditation. It makes me feel really calm, my mind feels clear and I think that I have more energy as well.

I start out with breathing exercises for 10 minutes. I slowly breathe out and in of one nostril, while covering the other nostril with my thumb. Then I cover the other nostril with my index finger and breathe out and in. I repeat this for 10 minutes, before I go into meditating on my diaphragm for 20 minutes.

The real challenge is to integrate this habit into my daily routine. That’s why I focus on the breathing exercises. They are easy to do and have a tremendous effect. If I feel like it, I meditate, but I mainly focus on the breathing exercises.
I’m a little surprised that I have not discovered this before. Hah, Caterina also wrote about this, recently. I guess that there is an increased attention on stress management and breathing exercises, which is a good way to deal with stress. Next thing you know, I’ll be eating only organic produce, doing freaking yoga and walking around barefoot…