Breathe in Peace
Slowly Inhale peace. Inhale calm. Exhale bad thoughts, dark mood.
Inhale peace. Inhale love. Inhale serenity. Exhale negativity, dark moods, cynicism. Inhale breath. Exhale breath.
Notice the most distant background noises while continuing to concentrate on speed and depth of respiration. Observe every bodily sensation you experience with each breath. Continue inhaling and exhaling as deliberately as possible.
Breathing is an autonomic function. That means it is something the brain/nervous system does automatically. Essentially you breathe automatically without any thought involved. However, when you add intention to your breathing, you can develop the ability to take control over your mind and nervous system thus overriding it’s automatic function. What does this mean? Why should I take control over my breathing?
The process of taking control in this way is like putting a harness on your mind and nervous system. This means you regulate your thoughts and your reactions. I know there are many times when I wish I could control what was happening around me, which I cannot. What I can control are my responses. Being able to relax my mind and body together while channeling my natural reactions is a skill worth practicing.
We think we know how to breathe until we actually begin to focus our breath and thoughts. The wonderful thing about this exercise is that you don’t even realize when your focus shifts from chaos to centered consciousness. Nevertheless, this change does transpire simply because you put yourself in the driver’s seat of your subconscious mind.
While that might sound complicated, it is simple especially if you literally sit with eyes closed, and take those inhalations purposefully slow. This is called meditation. Its practice will channel your most private intentions. It will help you find your center and the core of your truest self.
I am positive each silver sister here has contemplated “Who am I?” “What do I want?” “How can I manifest my best and most authentic self?”
It is this purity of thought that cultivates personal trust in our decisions, and our life's goals and purpose.
It is up to each of us to nurture ourselves just as we take care of our loved ones. Each of us deserves the best the universe brings. When we stay true, whole, and strive to live in harmony within, then we are able to consider and respect everything and everyone around us. The world needs respect right now. You can change the world by manifesting your best self. Developing self-respect will enable each of us to know how to truly respect others. It starts with each individual!
In addition to respect, the aspect of acceptance helps acquire inner calmness. We can utilize patience as well as radical acceptance in any difficult situation especially in the most stressful environments . Sure it takes practice like everything else. But the joy and inner peace it brings to have this level of composure is worth it because I am worth it! Say it with me.
I AM WORTH IT!!
Practicing this breathing technique will strengthen your will. It will develop virtues that serve you in every hardship. It can become a useful tool to help you cope in any environment, under any circumstance. It will give you a bit of calm in any storm that comes your way.
Everyday we meet people who may challenge our character. Maybe they don’t like us. Maybe they are having a bad day and they can’t express it properly. Maybe you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. Maybe they are just cruel. Maybe you are stressed, discontent or worse. Maybe someone is depressed. There are loads of reasons for behaving badly. What do we tell children when they behave badly?
We say “I don’t like your behavior, but I love you.” We need to be just as forgiving to ourselves.
The message is clear. We are not bad people. Sometimes we have bad days, or find ourselves in bad situations. These are specifically the moments to breathe deeply. Focus. Center yourself. Find your inner peace and stay there until you can accept the storm in which you find yourself. Acquire a calm within that storm then engage again when you are ready with relaxed patience. Accept the people, places and things that you cannot change. I urge you to practice sitting in a silent breath exercise such as the one above in order to foster this skill. Strengthening the ability to control our impulses with the application of breathing techniques such as this, will give us more personal power to do just that.
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