Focus On Breathing - 30 Second Exercise

As you can see from the previous article "Focus On Our Breathing", stopping to check out breathing out in our day is very important. While it may seem that this is something where you don't have the time to do nor the place, I am here to tell you that you you can do this at anytime or in almost any place. It is simple and yet it can be profound for our day.

Of course, you probably do not want to do this if you are in a car or in a situation that requires your constant alertness and awareness of what is going on. Please use your judgment in what place is appropriate and what places are not appropriate. Sitting at your desk or in a break room or even outside on a park bench would all be great places for this scenario. Even standing in a line waiting for an event or at a checkout in a store would work as well. There are many places and many different moments that you can do this. Your willingness and imagination are the key to finding them.

So now that you've found the appropriate place or time, let's get started.

Try to find a comfortable way to sit or stand so that you're body is in a relaxed position as it can be. Let your arms rest comfortably by your side or in a position where you can just let the tension go. Drop your shoulders a little and just recognize any tension that is there. Feel throughout your body for a moment and just recognize any tension that may be present and that you can sense. Give yourself a moment where you just focus on your body letting go and feeling it sink down into the floor or chair or where ever you may be.

Now as you do that, take a moment and only focus on your breathing. For the next 30 seconds, you want to do nothing else but focus on breathing. No thoughts or tasks or appointments that you need to get done are needed for this time. This next 30 seconds is just for you and you can give yourself permission to just let those things wait patiently away from you.

Take a moment and close your eyes. Begin by feeling your breath as you inhale and notice the depth of your inhale. Feel the exhale and how far the air is released through your body. You're not trying to influence anything at this point, just observing and acknowledging what is going on without any judgment. Just continue to focus on this and be with your breathing, honoring it and respecting all that is there. This is your life blood and what keeps you going through your day. It is there for you to support you and give you all that you need for your life. Just continue to observe your inhale, your exhale. Feel what it is like for your body to inhale and exhale and what your breathing is like when you do this.

After about 30 seconds, begin to open your eyes and note the depth of your breath, the pace of it and all that you could feel. Did it change as you continued to observe it? Did it slow down and become deeper? If not, don't worry but just observe and note what took place. The more you do this, the more connected you will become to your breathing. You'll be able to monitor it much easier as you do this more and you will become more aware of it throughout your day.

Take note of how you feel after this. Do you feel more centered and more focused? Maybe you just feel a sense of peace and rest or relaxation. What about tension in your body? Do your shoulders or neck or back feel a little less tense? You may or may not be able to notice these things but if you do, take note of them.

Hopefully after 30 seconds of focusing on your breath and your body, you will be much more aligned with your day and ready to focus what lies ahead. If you did this little 30 second to 1 minute exercise each day or even twice a day, your day would go so much differently. My challenge to you is to try this and see what happens and then try it for a month. Find out what is possible from doing something as simple as this focus on your breathing exercise. I have a feeling that it will greatly impact your life in ways that you didn't even realize were possible.

Come back tomorrow for the followup post on "Focus On Breathing - Exercises and Awareness".


*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog

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.



*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog