Even if you feel like you don’t have time for it.
Many entrepreneurs say that they simply don’t have time to ‘sit still,’ but it’s critical for our mental health. Just three deep breaths takes less than a minute and can be the gateway to longer meditation sessions. Once you see how effective and transformative three deep breaths can be, your body/mind/spirit crave it throughout the day. It can become your go-to tool for changing your mood, your perspective, your frustration, your resentment…your life!
Getting quiet, turning inward and taking a few deep breaths is a fast and effective way to treat yourself to a mini mental rejuvenation. Do you ever feel like your staring at your phone or computer and have so much multi-tasking happening that your head feels like it’s spinning? I’ve been on that hamster wheel too and whenever I find myself in that space, I know how to quickly bow out and get back to a focused, more grounded place. I simply take #Just3DeepBreaths. It’s that simple!
Becoming aware of your mental health several times throughout the day is key in being able to make changes. Moving back into the present moment instead of straddling between the past and future offers a sense of grounded-ness, clarity and focus that helps us in biz and life. But being ‘present’ isn’t easy for many people, but there are things you can do in addition to slow deep breathing that will help keep your thoughts at bay and help to focus on the present moment.
Here are some suggestions:
- Visualize your breath. Focus on the visual of the fresh air going into your body on inhales and visualize the negative energy leaving your body on the exhale.
- Use your hands and fingers to help focus. ‘Mudras,’ are seals or gestures that you form with your fingers and hands to impact your energy. They are many options for mudras, (will cover in another article), but one of my favorites is to move each fingertip on one hand to touch the tip of that hand’s thumb. One at a time, tap the top of the pointer to the thumb, then middle, ring finger, and pinky finger to the thumb, repeat as necessary to help clear your mind while your eyes are closed and your focusing on breathing.
- Repeat a ‘mantra’ silently to yourself over and over while your breathing. It can be a single word or a sentence, something positive that you want to manifest.
- Try different methods of breathing. (again, this requires a separate article) One of my favorites, that I taught my sons when they were kids is Lions Breath. They still use it many years later. This is perfect for getting rid of frustration, anger, negativity, fear…and for kids, it feels fun. Take a deep inhale and while exhaling stick out your tongue as long as possible and open your eyes wide. You can make a sound if you’d like (depending on where you are!) or do it silently. It’s super powerful! Even just one Lion’s breath helps to detox.
Try to make ‘being present’ a part of every day, even if just in the morning to start. It’s more important now than ever before because of our constantly connected lifestyle. I wouldn’t change the benefits of technology for anything, but we do need to make adjustments for this lifestyle and breath is the easiest, most accessible and effective solution. #Just3DeepBreaths
Tweet me your feedback or experience with breath!
Image courtesy of Unsplash.
Originally published at medium.com