It is no secret that stress has a negative impact on the body. That's putting it mildly. Being in a perpetual state of stress wreaks chaos on our bodies, and can quickly throw us into a tailspin of health and emotional imbalances. This can result in illness and depression. Who has time for that? Preventative measures are the foundation for good health and a positive mindset. I have a few little gems, that if applied to your daily routine, will help make the transition into 2015 a smooth and graceful one. The following tips will give you some tools to use to lay the foundation for a positive new year.
Breath Is Your Friend
Yes, I know; you already breathe - every day, all day. But the thing is, most of us are not breathing properly. Stress can take us right out of our bodies and put us in "auto-pilot" mode. When this happens, our breath can get constricted, and doesn't flow the way it should. The easiest and fastest way to get back into our bodies is by breathing. Let's breathe now, shall we?
Breath With Hands Like a Teapot
This breath is great for emotional balance and for centering. Whenever I find myself stressed out at work, I retreat to a quiet place and do this breath for a few minutes. Works like a charm every time.
This breath can be done either sitting in a chair with both feet flat on the floor or sitting on the floor in a cross-legged position. Interlace your hands at sternum level with your elbows resting against your ribs and thumbs on top, side by side. Your eyes are 1/10th open, focused on the thumbs. Inhale slowly through your nose, letting the breath fill your navel area, then your ribs and into the collarbone. Exhale slowly through puckered lips, imagining that your breath is going right into the space between your two thumbs. Repeat this for 3 minutes to start, eventually building up to 11 minutes over time.
Sitali Pranayam
The benefits of this breath are immeasurable. This all-encompassing breath helps cool out inflammation, so if you have arthritis, fibromyalgia or even a fever, doing this breath would be of great benefit to you. Additionally, this breath really supports the adrenals and the kidneys, and for those of us that are stressed to our limit every day, this is essential.
Like the breath technique above, this breath can also be done in a chair with feet flat on the floor or sitting on the floor in a cross-legged position. Your eyes are closed and focused upwards and in toward your brow, which is called the Third Eye point. Curl the tongue into a "U" shape. Inhale slowly over the curled tongue. The inhalation should be quiet and calm with no whistling noise. Exhale slowly through the nose with the curled tongue still extended. This can be a bit challenging to do at first, so a modification for this would be to leave the tongue uncurled. You may also pull the tongue back into the mouth and close the lips after the inhalation is complete and you are exhaling. Begin by doing 26 repetitions (each inhale and exhale = 1 repetition). Once you are comfortable doing this 26 times, you can try it for 3 minutes and then build from there.
Note: You may experience a bitter or metallic taste on the tongue when you do this. This is a completely normal thing, as it signals that your body is detoxing. This is temporary.
Taking some time out each day to practice these simple, yet highly-effective breath techniques will definitely change the dynamic of your day. Being mindful of the breath is one sure-fire way to help cope with the stresses of everyday life and if you can remember to slow down and breathe, you are well on your way to sailing into 2015 on the winds of grace.
