Focusing On Breathing

How often do you stop throughout your day and focus on your breathing? Is it shallow and rapid, slow and deep or is it hardly existent? Can you even tell that you are breathing or sense the qualities of it?

Yet, breathing is what gives us our life and our energy in a day. Without it and without the oxygen it provides, we would not be in a good state of being. So, why is it that we fail to pay attention to something that is so vital to our existence.

Most likely we are so busy and hurried in our days that stopping to pause for a moment is not on our calendar. Stopping to check in with ourselves to see how we are breathing is not something we most likely feel we have the time to do. This is sad, because it only takes a minute and our awareness of what is going on with this vital process can give us so much more fulfillment in our lives and replenish our body in ways that we may not think about.

Sometimes what may be the most obvious, simple things in life, end up being so difficult. We are much more concerned about getting to the next meeting, completing a task that the boss is hammering us on or competing for a deadline. While those are all noble and worthy tasks for our day, if we fail to take a moment and check in with our body, especially in regards to breathing, we may just be forcing ourselves through our day with more difficulty than is needed.

Consider for a moment that if you check in with your breathing and realize that your operating out of stress and from a frantic pace but you're able to slow yourself down for a moment, just think of what that would do to help you accomplish all that you need to. One moment of checking in with your breathing may help you make corrective changes that will empower and give you a boost into what needs to be accomplished. Otherwise, it is like adding water to your gasoline tank. While it may keep the engine running at a minimum, it won't get you as far as the ultimate fuel source.

Checking in with your breathing isn't as hard as you may think it is and it isn't as time consuming as you might think either. There are some simple things you can do during your day at just about any moment and if you do them, you'll be much better off in the long run. You'll be more productive, more centered and much more full of life.

Come back tomorrow for the next post on this topic, "Focus On Breathing - 30 Second Exercise", when we discuss a quick way of checking in with your breathing that you can do at almost any time and in almost anyplace.



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