There are many things that happen to us in our lives that we cannot control, but we can control how our emotions respond to the actions or words that others do. When we get frustrated, angry, anxious, irritable or over-whelmed, it’s important to come back to our breath. Breathing smooth long inhales and exhales. Allowing our exhalation length to lead the length of our inhalation. For example, if you exhale for a count of 5, inhale for a count of 5. You will notice that your exhalations will naturally lengthen. Allow your inhale to continue to maintain the same length as your exhales. Do this with the gentle energy of a smile on your face. Keeping the texture of the breath smooth and steady.
If you are wanting more energy, lengthen the inhale and if you are trying to calm and ground lengthen the exhale. As you lengthen these breaths, do so in a smooth gentle manner.
Another way to access peace and harmony within our mind and body is as follows: If you are lethargic and unmotivated, close the left nostril and focus breathing through your right nostril. The opposite is true, if you are anxious, angry, irritable, frustrated or overwhelmed, close your right nostril and focus your full attention on breathing through your left nostril. Closing the right nostril and focusing the breath through the left nostril is a wonderful technique to practice before going to sleep at night. You can even bring willful attention to the left nostril and breath long beautiful breaths and it will have the same effect.
Happy Breathing!
