Yoga Minis | Belly Breathing
It’s a funny place that ol’ brain. When we spend too much time and energy up there it can become a quite dangerous. Sometimes it feels like we are caught in a spiderweb, maze, broken record or pile of sap. We can become fixated, frantic, obsessed or overwhelmed by a thought, emotion or conversation and before we know it we are caught in a loop of analysis, projection or past story. When this occurs we have most likely disassociated from our bodies. If not acknowledged in a timely fashion this state of mind will send our body into a state of fight or flight, increasing our heart rate and flooding the body with stress chemicals. Our breath will begin quickening and pumping in and out of the chest. We might feel stuck here but we are NOT.
Yoga teaches us to heighten our internal awareness and more quickly notice when this process begins. It is often referred to as attuning to subtle energy. When I first started practicing Yoga I thought subtle energy was bogus. I wanted to feel things, like really feel them. I am a very physical being so often to learn something I needed to feel something intense in my body. So subtle energy, meditation and breath control were not my natural forte. But I had an open mind, kept practicing and finally I caught on. I began to see subtle energies as my little helpers. The internal, non verbal communicators between mind, body and spirit. As we become more keen observers we pick up on messages and get warnings before the energy manifests into suffering. Attuning to subtle energy enables us to more effectively detect when we are out of balance and more efficiently return to balance, balance being equal part energy in mind, body and spirit.
A wonderful tool for recalibrating, specifically when there is excess energy in the mind is a technique I call Belly Breathing. It helps release contraction in the brain and drop energy down into our physical body. Give it a try with me. Nah, not later, try it with me now. It will only take a few moments and it very well may shift your whole day.