breath magic

Back to breathing.

I digress. When I learned to affect my own breathing, when I learned to tune in and pay attention to breathing, things started to change for me.

I hadn’t heard of breath work or conscious breathing before I stumbled into yoga eight years ago. Breath to movement? Never heard of it. Then one day, I looked around and realized, I felt better. Not just on my mat or leaving a yoga class, but most of the time.

It took a while and a lot of cueing, but eventually, I learned to take a deep breath into my lungs, into my belly. I learned to feel my breath in my back and in my hips. I learned what a deep full breath felt like.

I mean, I was always breathing, being alive and all, I can’t help but breathe. I just wasn’t aware of it. I wasn’t aware of the power of slowing it down or it’s affect on my brain, body and nervous system.

I’m still amazed at how things have gradually shifted and improved because of this one awareness.

Breathing. Who would have thought?

In the beginning, I wished I had had this breathing magic much earlier in my life. I guess learning happens when it happens.. Better late than never, but what a difference this one tiny thing may have made when I was young.

That is why I wrote books about it, for the kid I used to be. For kids today. For teachers and parents because if we know kids, we easily see how stressful their lives can be.

As a child, I was a worrier. It seems like kids have even more on their plates then I ever did. Is there more to worry about? It seems like it. Between the news, media, pressures to do well in school and competitive sports, allergies, climate change a pandemic, yikes!..Parenting seems pretty intense as well.

Just trying to make friends in my new location is stressful. Life man, Thank goodness I have some simple, easy breathing methods to calm my mind. Of course I want everyone to have them too.