How Impersonal Can You Get?

I scratch my head sometimes trying to figure out the human species.  We have all these communication forms at our fingertips and yet, it seems like we don't know how to communicate.

We are so busy with our lives, that we don't stop to take a moment and say "hello" or "how are you doing" or some other simple statement.  We just go on and on about how busy we are and how we've got a zillion things to do and how we just don't have time to keep up with any of our friends.  We apologize ad nausea until our repeated apologies sound like a broken record.

Yet, the minute the latest political story of the day comes out, we are on it so hard.  We're tweeting away, we're texting our friends, or we're liking it on Facebook.  It becomes our sole focus and then consumes us, but yet, we are too busy for others in our lives.

Anything more than a simple text or tweet or Facebook like seems to be quite complicated for most humans these days.  I mean, why engage and truly let someone know they matter in your life, when you can just click a little heart or click a like.  How impersonal can you get?  Yes, I know these platforms draw you in to make it so easy to do, but it is the lowest form of communication that you can do.

I see various people that I've communicated with on a regular basis ignore me almost since I'm no longer real active on Facebook.  Without Facebook, it is like you don't exist.  If you don't text people, it is like you don't exist.  Sorry, but how in the world did we ever manage up to this point in time without Facebook, Text Message, and Twitter?  I'm being sarcastic there of course.

If my memory serves me correctly, there is a song that Tracy Lawrence sings (might have the wrong country music artist) but it is about if everyone had a front porch - in other words - people got to know one another and communicate with one another.  It is a thing of the past that I miss.  Yet, in those days, we only saw and heard what we wanted to see as well.  It wasn't always a good thing as we want to remember.

We've become so impersonal with our communication that we barely know one another.  We're more interested in screaming at one another through social media, than we are seeing each other through eyes of love, compassion, and understanding.  We're more interested in screaming our beliefs and opinions at one another than we are just communicating with one another.  We're more interested in hating one another than truly loving each other.

If we don't watch out, we will wake up one of these days and wonder who these other two-legged creatures are around us.  It takes communication.  It takes not being too busy for others.  It takes really making a personal effort by each one of us to make an attempt to see those around us in our life as if they matter.

Are we too busy for others?  Unfortunately, the rhetorical question deserves an answer of YES.  It is up to each one of us to change that.  It isn't the fault of anyone else out there in the world.  Either you're too busy for others in your life or you make time for them.  It is that plain and simple.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Take a Retreat

Cabins At Healing Springs

We work far too much, stay busy more than we should and take very little downtime for ourselves.  We push ourselves every day at the demands of our boss, our family, and the other responsibilities we hold.  As a society we're too strung out on the drug of being so busy that we just never stop.

Sometimes the best thing we can do for our mind and body is take a retreat.  Remember summer camp where you got away for a week.  Or if it wasn't summer camp, how about those family vacations.  Maybe it was other ways when you were growing up, but years prior, taking a vacation or a retreat was more common place.

If we exhaust and push our bodies day in and day out, we're only asking for trouble.  I know - I did that for a long time and one day I was up and working, the next day I was down.  Sure, I took the few hours once a week and tried to rest, but for the amount of hours I was running, it wasn't enough.  We all tend to do that these days.  I'm not alone.

Give your mind time to refresh...

If you take a retreat, you give your mind time to refresh and you give your body time to rest and recharge.  Even though we may feel like we're a limitless energy source, there is only so much our body will do before it needs the rest.  Our mind is the same way.  You can't just push yourself nonstop and expect the mind and body to keep up.

Taking a retreat helps get perspective on things in life.  It helps the body catch up and just have a moment to see what is going on.  Often when we are so busy, we don't even begin to hear the messages our body is sending us until it is too late and we are sitting in the doctor's office.  A retreat helps you feel what is going on in the body and when you are connected to your body, you're the one in control.

The mind becomes too busy to defrag...

The mind can deal with stress, but where it functions the greatest is through moments of rest and retreat.  In fact, during deep sleep hours, this is when the mind defrags itself and attempts to clean out the closet areas of the mind.  If we go nonstop without a retreat, the mind becomes too busy to defrag itself and balance out.

Try finding some place out in nature or some event that takes you away from your computer and all the daily responsibilities.  Spend a few days there or an extended weekend.  Do it often and your mind and body will thank you.

I love going to the mountains when I can because I can just get away from it all.  At one point, I got to go to a Nasa Tweetup and it was like an adult field trip.  It was so refreshing.  Sometimes just going to the beach or a park or taking a short trip can help you step away from the busy part of life and find rest for the soul.

A retreat is good for the mind and body.  It brings about balance and allows you to recharge, refresh, and renew.  It should be the prescription for every human.  Take one retreat frequently and avoid the busy moments of life as much as possible.

Note:

The picture above is from our stay at the Cabins At Healing Springs.  A wonderful secluded and peaceful place to take a retreat.   Individual cabins and the owners are wonderful people.  The surroundings are beautiful and there is so much to do in the area around this.  If you're looking for a great place to go, make sure you check them out.

Are We Too Busy For Others?

I see example after example of this every day in our society.  Is the busyness of our lives so important that we are too busy for others?  Can we not take a moment of our day and reach out to someone that maybe a brief word would pick up their day?

I know, we've all got our things to do.  The task and project list grows with every minute.  The kids have this activity.  The group we are evolved with needs our help and assistance.  The job demands our time and this is before we get any of the much needed "me" time.

Yet, I wonder if we are we keeping ourselves so busy that it becomes a distraction to life.  It is easy to do because when things are happening one after another, you truly don't have to feel the things you may want to try to avoid.  It is easier to function when there is no feelings and emotions that you have to struggle to want to invite into your daily life.

The only thing is if we are keeping ourselves so busy that we fail to live our own life, there is a good chance we are too busy for others.  If we are putting the needs of others ahead of our own, then this is not healthy either.  There needs to be a balance.

We need each other in this life and this world to make it through the rough times and to celebrate the glorious times.  Without others and being too busy for others in this regards, we are limping through our days on one leg, not both.

We may want to stop and evaluate where our life is and what is important.  Are we truly too busy for others, or are we just not using our time in the best way that we should.  Resting and stopping and playing is so needed in these days.  If we neglect those, we are only watching life pass us by.

Let us learn to not be too busy for others and our self.  There is great joy and comfort in enjoying life's beauty that is all around us.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Too Busy To Take Care Of Myself

I know, we all have many demands on our time.  I get it.  I understand.  For a long time I was traveling every week and that did not always leave much time to stop and smell the roses.  It did not allow me to take care of myself and do the things that I needed to do.

If I am too busy to take care of myself, at some point my body will stop me in my tracks.  If anyone thinks that they can go forever and ever without something happening, you're just walking on thin ice in the lake and getting lucky.

I am talking from experience after having a Conversion Disorder and being paralyzed, then trying to piece my life back together.  You can find out more about that in my book, Hope And Possibility Through Trauma.

Sure, I went through other stuff in life that contributed to it, but right before the Conversion Disorder hit, I was working 6.5 days a week almost 18 hours a day trying to be the best employee I could be.  I was too busy to take care of myself but I was never too busy to overwork myself.

It came at a price and almost cost me my life.  It was a wake up call.  Even though I know all of this, I still went through a job recently that just about killed me again.  I guess I am too hard headed to learn and so I went back down.  I'm still recovering from that time of being too busy to take care of myself.

You may not get a Conversion Disorder and paralysis.  However, there are things like cancer, heart attacks, back pain, and many other conditions that creep up on us.  If you ignore your body, there is a high probability that at some point, your body will get your attention.

You can pay now by taking care of yourself or you can pay later when things are pretty serious.  It is your choice in all that you do.  We choose to do like I did and work day and night or we choose to enjoy life and take care of our mind and body.  No one else does that for us although we often think they do.

We only have one body and one mind.  If we waste it and exhaust it and overwork it, what good will it be to us in  20, 40, or 60 years?  When we are younger, we think we have all the resources and time we need, but as we get older, all this stuff starts to accumulate and then begin knocking on the door to get our attention.

Let's try not to be too busy to take care of ourselves.  Our body and mind will thank us for it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

040416

Moments Of My Day

Sometimes the days of my life seem to flash by quickly.  It is almost like a high speed film.  At times, I don't know which end is going which way.  It just feels to me like there is no tomorrow.

Sometimes in life, it is hard to make sense of everything.  There are moments that are confusing.  There are moments that appear very clear, and then fade away.  At times, I get the feeling that I just can't see everything, but yet I am living each moment as if I am.

Some days I long for answers, but it seems life is so busy, there is no time to hear them.  I wonder and question just how I reconcile time and purpose together.  They almost seem like strange bedfellows.  Yet, it feels like the pieces of a puzzle that should go together.

Stopping to smell the roses of life is essential.  Even though I thought I did this, I may be skipping this moment all too often in my life.  Even a life that doesn't seem to flow well, still needs time to step away and rest.  Life still needs to recharge and unhitch from the stresses of life.

Starting my morning in daily meditation helps.  Yet, I sometimes think that what I write makes no difference.  It is like it is meaningless to me.

Even though it may not be filled with all the answers I need at that moment, a morning meditation time is my way of stopping and allowing myself to connect with all that I need.  It is the moment where I allow everything into my life without prejudice, fear, or the business of my day and with an open heart.  It marks the beginning of focusing my moments, rather then allowing them to just pass me by.

I'm grateful that I stop in this moment of the day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 1/14/13 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is Time Speeding Up?

I see a lot written these days including guests like Shirley McClaine on Oprah talking about time speeding up. Everyone seems to notice time speeding up or at least that is what was indicated on the Oprah show (April 11, 2011). While time may be speeding up, I have no way to prove that it is or that it is not. I'm sure there are many out there that can give justification to this.

The only thing that I do know is that I cannot control time. Each one of us only has so many seconds, minutes, and hours in any given day. Whether those change at any given point, is of course the question. There is always the possibility that they do. I learned a long time ago when i was doing research, that what we think is correct is not always as it seems.

Again, I go back to my biggest concern. Can I influence how fast time goes in a day? I doubt I can. If I can, I have absolutely no idea of how to begin doing that. For what is time, but a measurement we all use in life to organize our day. Of course, time could be more than that and I'm sure it most likely is.

What I do know is that if I spend my all my time in front of the computer, on Facebook, running from this meeting to that meeting, going to this event or filling my every waking hour with something to do, I feel like time really speeds up. We, the collective we, of course spend more of our waking moments keeping ourselves busy than stopping to feel, sense, observe and notice all that is around us. Meditation practices are for those really dedicated, spiritual, new age people, not for the rest of us. Mindfulness is something that is thrown around in our day but not truly understood or observed.

So, here's my plan that seems to work for me when I feel like time is out of control. I do this very simple and profound thing, I STOP! Yes, you heard me correct. I STOP! That may mean I take a walk in the park or along the ocean. It may mean that I spend some time reading a book, taking a nap, sitting by the pool or enjoying time with my plants. It may mean that instead of seeing how many events I can participate in for any given week, that I begin to pick and choose what really matters. Of course, it means that I spend less time on Facebook and reading all the news that society deems is important so maybe I can have more time to just relax, rest and rejuvenate my body, mind and spirit.

Many years ago, we did not have all these electronic devices that crowded our days and our minutes for attention. We spent more time out doors, playing, running, walking and getting to know our neighbors. It was a simpler life that we have left behind.

Maybe the important question should not be so focused on is time speeding up, but what are we doing with the time we have? How are we effectively managing our lives so that we get to stop, rest and energize? Are we just doing everything that we can because it is easier to keep our minds busy that way rather than allowing our minds to unwind and catch up?

You, the individual, are the only one that can answer that question. You are the only one that can make changes and discover what is truly important to your life. We need not worry so much about what it is that we cannot control but more on what we can control.

Further Reading:
1) When Life Is Too Busy
2) Mindful Words



Blog Post & Images (c) 4/1/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Clutter In Our Life, Part 2

Clutter #2 - Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 2 of 10

Most of us go to a daily job or if we don't, we find ways to keep ourselves busy almost 24x7. Jobs are important but many times we fail to give ourselves down time after the day is done. These days with the mobile cellular devices and laptop computers, we are hardly ever disconnected from our jobs. There is always that email to answer or that person needing to have a question answered.

We live in a day of instant everything and 30 seconds is a long time for anyone to wait anymore. Than we get home and one child has this event to go to, another has another event. We've got to figure out how to get something to eat for everyone, do household chores, take care of a million other tasks and yet try to get a few hours of sleep before the next day starts up.

Each day we do this, we run a negative balance in the account of our lives and if we don't stop during the day and push the reset button, we travel at lightening speeds for all kinds of health care and body issues.

Come back tomorrow for part 3 of this series, Clutter In Our Life. Below are the various parts to this series that you can read as well.

Clutter In Our Life Series
- Introduction
Part 1: Spending our hours watching TV news
Part 2: Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 3: Numbing Ourselves
Part 4: Following Blindly
Part 5: Food Choices
Part 6: Health care, Doctors, and Medicine
Part 7: Hydrating Our Bodies
Part 8: Thinking We Have The Answers
Part 9: Exercise Is For Another Day
Part 10: We Fail To Evolve
- The 30 Day Challenge


Blog Post & Images (c) 3/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Five Minute Silent Meditation

So often in life, each of us has so much noise, clutter and chaos. We could all probably list many things that consume our attention but really don't get our feet moving from point A to point B. Our minds can become overactive in thinking on these these things.

It can be so difficult to quiet our mind when we have days that are filled from the time we wake up to the time we got to bed. In many ways, modern technology keeps us going at a pace that is in conflict with the frequency of the human body. Yet, if we stopped right now, we would worry just how we would accomplish every thing that was expected of us. Is this the way we truly desire to live life where our beginnings to our day meet the ends of our day?

I'm not going to say it is easy to stop and take ourselves out of our busy lives. It is definitely a challenge. However, we have to consider what is important in our day. What things do we wish to spend our time with during the day? What things matter to us and have the greatest importance? Sure, there are things that we must do to function in life, but if they are our sole focus, than we will be like a dog chasing its tail.

What if we made a commitment with ourselves that we would spend 5 minutes each morning in silent meditation? We could focus on our breath as we allow our mind and body to connect. A quiet place to do this is helpful and best but it can also be done in just about any place. Just focus on giving yourself this time, and block out the noise, chaos and clutter around you. Let your mind be in that moment without giving yourself any input. Let yourself be in the silence of the moment complete with all the sounds happening around you.

Just 5 minutes a day can do many things for the mind, body and spirit. If you have more time available, you may see a greater reward but the important point is just to give yourself this moment. Try not to make the act of doing silent meditation so great that it overwhelms you to the point where it does not happen. Let it flow and happen as you see fit and as you feel is appropriate for you in your life at that moment.

Allow yourself to just be in the moment without concern for what you need to accomplish. Those things will fill your day easily enough. Give yourself this moment to refresh and renew your life's energy. See just how the 5 minute act of silent meditation affects your day and your life.



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

Focus On Breathing - Exercises and Awareness

If you have read the past two posts "Focus On Our Breathing" and "Focus On Our Breathing - 30 Second Exercise", than you will already have understood why focusing on breathing is important and a quick way that you can do this. If you have not read these two entries, please check them out.

Breathing is so powerful and I'm sure each person reading this blog post is aware of that. However, we often forget and neglect the most basic thing we do outside of pumping blood through our veins. All too often, we go through life just assuming we are breathing as we need to but we never stop to check to see how we are actually breathing. I remember sitting through many counseling or bodywork sessions and having people remind me to breathe. At first I was startled by their comments for me to remember to breathe because I thought I was. However, as I have since found out, there are times that I almost hold my breath or I just don't breathe! It may sound strange but I have witnessed this in not only myself but in many others.

As a massage therapist, I have used breath work to help people really go in and release deep, long held pain within in their bodies in a very short time. Having people use their breath as I work on them in a very directed way is powerful and makes my job much easier and their results more profound. It is important to note that each one of us can go deep within our own bodies using our breath and release tension, pain and long held somatic memories.

Here's some thoughts about how you might actually go about working with breath on your own. These are additional methods to the 30 second exercise I shared about in a previous blog post.

1) Find a comfortable place such as a bed, massage table or maybe a lounge chair on your patio. Get yourself comfortable and make sure the place you are lying on has much support but is also soft and gentle on your body. You could also sit up in a meditative style if you want but I find that the body really lets go when it is not trying to hold itself up. It doesn't make sense to me to sit up, having tension in your body while trying to let go of that tension. Maybe it makes sense to some but not to me in my experiences.

2) If you have a pulse meter, check your pulse before you begin and establish a baseline of where you are at. This helps greatly because then you will truly know what is going on within your body and you will see through measurement what effect it will have had upon you. There will be no second guessing or having your mind trick you into thinking that something happened. There is too much of that in our society and in our healing world where people think something happened, when in all reality, very little if anything at did actually happen. I use the Finger Pulse Oximeter. The reason I use this pulse meter is that it tells me in real time what my pulse is and how the wave forms of my pulse appear. It gives me some very good and helpful information. Plus, it shows me exactly what is going on, not what my mind maybe tricking me into believing what is going on.

3) To begin, just get comfortable in the place you have chosen and lie there for a few minutes doing nothing but just sensing what it is like to lay on the table. I'm going to use the word "table" referring to a massage table to make this easier to explain. What does it feel like to lay there on the table? Are you completely comfortable or can you add a pillow or change your position to feel more comfortable? Just sense all of that and take it in for a few minutes. Focus on allowing all your busy thoughts and things that you need to accomplish, to just stand outside the door of the room you are in. You can always pick them up at the door later if you so choose but for now, they are not needed.

4) As you begin to feel the comfort and support of the table, begin to focus in on your breathing. Notice the inhale and exhale, the rise and fall of your breath. This is not the time for judgment but just observation. Observation which allows you to look at it through caring, loving and accepting eyes. Take note of the depth or shallowness of your breath as well as the speed of it. What is it like? How deep is it or how shallow is it? Maybe even trying to sense this is difficult at best for you and if it is, take note of that. Consider giving yourself the option of just allowing that feeling to be there and to be ok with it, not expecting anything more than is happening.

5) Continue breathing and then see if there is any change within how shallow or deep it is, how slow or fast it is and any other qualities you may find. Keep noticing this and focusing upon your breath. While you are doing this, you may begin to notice things within your body. This could range from minor shaking and trembling to maybe a body part is moving on its own. You might also notice an itching sensation or tingling as well as you might notice areas where it is almost a numb feeling. Emotions such as crying and laughter among other things may be showing up. There may be unexplained pains or stiffness that is present. You may see colors or feel all kinds of sensations within your body. Accept and honor all these things for they are your messages and your gifts to bringing about greater awareness within your body.

6) Keep your focus on what is happening within your body and with your breath. While all the experiences may be exciting and it could be easy to get lost in those, keep your focus on what you can sense and feel within your body. For this is where the true healing will take place and lead you to a greater awareness. If you begin to find areas of discomfort and pain or strong emotions coming up, begin to shift your breathing to these areas and imagine filling yourself up with the power of your breath. You may notice that your breathing speeds up as if you were running a race and that is perfectly ok. Allow your breathing to go where it needs to and then keep observing to see how things change in your body. Are areas less tense, less painful? Have emotions changed that maybe you were feeling and experiencing? Maybe some of the things you noticed have shifted from one area to another. Maybe you're feeling heat rise from your body. Welcome all these things and just continue to observe everything that is taking place. Continue to allow yourself to be with what is happening and just allow it to take place without trying to control, change or manipulate it or judge it.

7) As your body moves through the feelings and as you begin to feel and sense more of your breathing, allow your body to just sink down into the table and find a moment of peace and rest. Know that you do not have to solve everything in your life that may be showing up in your body at one time. Sometimes, short bursts of doing this type of exercise is healing far beyond comprehension. So just allow your body to come back down to a moment of stillness and rest on the table, giving it honor and thanking it for being there for you.

8) After laying there for a few minutes, you might check your pulse again with the pulse meter we discussed above. How did your pulse change? Is it significantly lower? Is the wave form more pointed and even? Then match that up with how you feel now versus how you felt before you started. What changed in your body? What changed in your mind?

Honor all these things and take them all in. Treasure them as gifts of awareness for they will connect together the more you do exercises like this and they will yield so much to your life. For you have the power to do so much within your own body. Yes, there may be some difficult challenges in which you want a safe and supportive person there with you to help coach you through them. We are all much more powerful than we realize and we can do so much on our own that will give us so much in our lives.

If you have found this helpful and you're working with it, I would love to hear your experiences. If it was possible, I would most likely ask to share them on this blog. For I know in my own life, some of the basic things above that I described have helped me push through so much in my life and helped me heal in my own awareness. My hope is that as a result of this exercise, that your life will grow in a more rich awareness and it will help you further your own journey of self discovery and healing.



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

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

Cats Live In The Moment

Have you ever noticed how a cat lives in the moment? They don’t necessarily worry about where they are going to find food tomorrow or the next day or what activities they will do. There are no long term planned out goals and no events they have to attend. There aren’t made up to do lists and deadlines. They just live in the moment.

While we as humans maybe cannot live our lives completely as if a cat does, there are many things we can do to live in the moment. Often as humans, we put so many demands upon ourselves and we create more work and stress for ourselves than in all reality is needed. Consider for a moment everything you do in a day. What is the purpose of it? Is it all necessary? Yes, there is the shopping, the taking care of a family, performing your career duties and interacting with friends. That is all true.

However, again I ask, is it all necessary? And if it is, could there be another way to do things? What about a way with more ease, simplicity and focus? What if you stopped for a moment and considered all you had to do, letting the full breadth of your creativity and analytical abilities ponder what was before you? Perhaps, this would be a better way to make it through your day.

We often react to situations as they come at us and in those moments, the stress and tension is higher than if we were in a relaxed state. What if we just paused for a moment and looked at the situation? Where might that get us? I would suggest that the outcome of taking a pause in the moment would get us further than just reacting to what was going on and trying to solve the situation immediately. Sure, there are times, when time is of the essence and so as we think about this, let us keep that in perspective.

As I go back to watching a cat, I see just how they live in the moment. When they feel like eating, they eat. When they want to play, they play. When they want to sleep, they sleep. It is purely in the moment. They are for the most part, tuned into what their body needs. While we as humans cannot live like cats do, we can take pauses in our own life and focus on living in the moment every chance we get. We could experience life from living in the moment if we allowed ourselves to do this.

Living in the moment can come in all forms no matter how busy you are in a day. There can be the step outside the office door for two minutes, to take a deep breath of fresh air and allow yourself to feel it as it fills every cell of your body. There can be the 30 seconds sitting at your desk just allowing yourself to focus on your breathing and feel how all of it fills every sense of your being. Maybe a stand up and stretch during your day in a busy office can allow you to connect with that body you live in all 24 hours of the day. Of course these are just examples in a busy day for you to stop, pause and enjoy a moment of living in life.

For me, I try to mix in my day many different ways of pausing. To each person, the many possibilities will be different from person to person. I can be at home with myself as I’m working in a garden, feeling every grain of soil as I connect with the earth which to me is a source of strength and grounding. As the sun warms my body, I can feel revived again throughout every functioning cell of my body. It may be just a stroll down the street in the evening air or a ride through the country. It might be stopping at listening or observing the birds flying around me or seeing the ripples through the trees and lake of my favorite local park. Sometimes it is sitting by the window with my cat in my arms observing the wind moving the trees through the air without effort. It could even be a simple moment listening to some beautiful music that takes my mind away from the busy moments in my day. There are so many examples that I could give and I’m sure in your own life, you will be able to find those simple things. Treat it as a treasure hunt and see all of the great gifts we have waiting just waiting for us to accept them.

I remember when I was going to massage school at Educating Hands and working full time. School was 3 nights a week plus often one of the weekend days and work was at least 8 hours a day. Between school and studying along with daily life activities, there was not much time left for anything else. One of the things I did was to take Yoga on Saturday mornings. Sure, it took a couple of hours or so by the time I traveled there and took the yoga class. Often I would wonder if I was making good use of my time until the class was over and I would see the benefits. Yoga would give me a time of just stopping, clearing my mind and connecting with my body. The rest of the day, I would be much more productive than I would have been if I had not gone to yoga. Just stopping and taking a pause offers us so much. Indeed it offers us life!

I hope you will join me in finding pauses and moments of stillness in our days. Whether it is something elaborate or something very simple, may we all find a way to stop, clear our mind and just connect to the bodies we inhabit 24 hours a day. For if we all do this, we will have given our days, our bodies and our lives so much life!