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I breath there for I am
The following is the post from my Weblog:
I-Breath Therefore I Am: Pennsylvania Echoes
Breathing is the center of our being and wellness… Quietly simply put: If you stop breathing you wont live very long.
Breathing is a important part of our metabolizing ,our Nervous system and our bodies “Fight or flight” anxiety response.
Thus the process of breathing directly impacts the process of thinking, as well as most other bodily process.
I think therefore I am? well I breathe therefore I am
A simple exercise:
remembering not to worry about how fast one counts:
remembering not to worry if misses a count.
exhale 4-3-2-1-0, Inhale 1-2-3, continue to repeat.
after a couple minutes slow down the counting.
end whenever one wishes, but give it about 5 minutes.
This simple breathing exercise can be helpful in an anxious moment; for momentary stress management, or focusing ones thoughts when they feel momentarily “scatter brain”
I learned this simple wellness tool in a doctors office Years ago. I was feeling the symptoms of BiPolar Disorder I: in this case anxiousness and the intrusive inability to focus my thinking. I was not able to even speak clearly, that day. A mental Health nurse taught me the simple breathing exercise above .
We did it together and I was able to focus my mind for a period of time.
I would hug that nurse if I could finder today. She helped me find one of the most important stress management tools that I still use to this day.
*Click here for a short list of Breathing exercises I use today.
Breathing exercise are not only a helpful form of stress management, They are a free and complete portable tool… one can even do them in a crowded room with no one noticing.
~
Today my experiences with Breathing Exercise has greatly helped me what understand meditation is. (and what it is not)
In my case today I use Zazen (zen meditation) and Mindful meditation primarily.
breathing exercise and meditation are not just for consciousness, they a great help for over all mindful and physical well being.
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catastrophizing
Catastrophizing is a form of thinking where one leaps to the worsted possible out come..
examples….
- “My son is out driving and he is two hours late… my God he has been in a accident.”
- “I made a mistake at work… I’m gonna lose my job”
- “if this party doesn’t go perfectly… my relatives will hate me.”
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The first step in reducing catastrophic thinking is awareness. writing thoughts down in journals.
working through this kind of thinking error takes time. One way is to right down the possible out comes.
“My son is out driving and he is two hours late…possibly Because :
- He was in a accident.
- He lost track of the time
- He is stuck in traffic.
which is more likely? This is a rational approach.
Also we must find ways to express our emotions about the possible outcomes. create a dialog between the our thoughts and feelings.
- ” I feel afraid and powerless over the possibility of my son being in an accident.”
The more aware we are of our thinking process :the more we are able to control the useful tool..
….and intergrate it peacefully with the rest of our being.
— This is an experpt from my post at
Pennsylvania Echoes: Rain, Shine, Catastrophization
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Thinking Errors such as Catastrophizing are part of the awareness of Cognitve Behavior Therapy..
For those who Have Bipolar Disorder or Anxiety Disorders, I think that work books are an excellent resource.
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learning to relax
if there is anything i have learned better: its how to relax and become patient with my emotions.
I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder 7 years ago. The anniversary of my first (of two) hospitalizations is coming up soon.*..
Long ago, if i was anxious or irritated my mind or body would race. I would become more and more stressed. getting irrational, then feeling guity about it.
Today its a matter of catching myself. realizing that i am feeling stressed, irritated, or that i am racing. I’ve learned to trust that i can slow things down, with breathing. … being patient with my emotions and not fighting them….
…..
I while back I was suffering from panic attacks. I tried my best to prevent them.
It was the preventing them… that was making them worse.
What i was really doing was becoming afraid of panic attacks.
In fact i did this with a lot of my emotions…
Anger, Sadness, Mournfulness, Apprehension…
I pushed them down. I guess I perceived them as “negative emotions”
I was fearful of my own emotions. and if they slipped out i felt guilty.
how irrational i was in fighting my own body, my own emotive expressions.
its not still not easy to cry or to allow myself to be annoyed sometimes….
but it has gotten better, I do not fight it as much.
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Bipolar mood charts
A Mood Chart is a simple tool that people diagnosed with Bipolar disorder (like me) use from time to time. its basically a daily or bi-daily chart of symptoms and affect mood. With the K.I.S.S (keep - it- simple-stupid) attitude in mind, a mood chart can be made to meet any personal symptoms and then taken to to a doctor and therapist.Why keep a mood chart?
Mood charts can give a consumer and his/her professionals a better idea of the cycling, symptoms and possible triggers of symptoms over a long period of time. Thus a mood chart is a tool for personal awareness and an aid for a doctor who is prescribing treatment.
From my blog post:
Pennsylvania Echoes:Charting my moods(bipolar)
I made a very simple mood chart that can be downloaded.
Its in PDF format(viewable with Adobe Acrobat, Foxit Reader, Open Office, etc)
click here if you wish to download
daily-mood-chart-for-bipd1.pdf
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breathing exercises
MY BREATHING EXERCISES
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{Origionally posted at Pennsylvania Echoes: Breathing}
Why do i do breathing exercises? well they are a healthy free and
completely portable form of self therapy, meditating aid,
prayer or discipline in correcting mind and body.
These
are exercises that i use in breathing. Perhaps in sharing, these can
inspire self therapy and meditations for whom may read this.
when inhaling alway tuck in the diaphragm,
and expand the lungs up through the rib cage.
breath with the belly
A simple starter:
* exhale and count 1 2 3 4 5
* repeat breathing.
* on each exhale think on slowing the counting down and
lengthening the breath
* 1 2 3 4 5
* countue for five minutes or so
MISOGI
* Sit in comfortable position. Kneeling is traditional, but not necessary.
* Begin to be aware of my breathing.
* Shift my breathing so that I am inhaling through you nose and exhaling
through your mouth making a “hahhh” sound as you do so.
*Visualize that my breath is a circle -
in through the nose and out through the mouth.
* thoughts intrude on my awareness of my breath simply imagine they are
puffy clouds that i can choose to allow to drift on their way and then
refocus my attention on my breath again.
————-
DEEP BREATHING TECH.
* Start by putting one hand on my chest,
and one on your abdomen (just above my navel).
* Inhale slowly and deeply through my nose. Try to direct the breath
downward into my belly, so it pushes up the hand resting on my abdomen.
*The hand on the chest shouldn’t move much at all.
* Exhale through the mouth making a quiet whooshing sound.
———————-
COMPLETE BREATHING EXERCISE
* Sit or stand in a comfortable position,
* emptying my lungs as fully as possible by exhaling through the nose as
i pull the abdomen in as far as i can.
* Holding this for five seconds.
* Inhale slowly through my nose, pushing my abdomen way out to let air
enter the lower part of my lungs.
* Continue the slow inhalation by also expanding the chest
as far as possible and then raising my shoulders as high as possible,
thus allowing air to enter the higher area of my lungs.
* Hold the breath in my lungs for a count of five, allowing the oxygen
in the air to be fully absorbed.
* Slowly exhale as deeply as i can, relaxing your shoulders and chest
and contracting my abdomen to expel as much waste-laden air as you can.
* Hold this for five seconds.
* Repeat the whole breath cycle ten times or so, pausing between cycles if necessary.
* Be aware of how full of energy my body feels when i finish.
———————————————–
BREATHING And HUMMING
* sitting with good posture or lay out flat and strait
* Exhale fully
* Breath in , fill the lungs fully, and feel the ribcage expand
* Exhale thru the nose with a low slow controlled hum
* Become aware of my humming only
* Squeeze out as much of my last breath/hum with my belly
* repeat with breathing in. continue this exercise for 3 to 5 minutes
COUNTING BREATH DISCIPLINE.
–this exercise helps me correct and discipline my restless mind
and concentration. basically a form of daily exercise
* sit or lay with good posture.
* Inhale (with the belly) and exhale slowly and smoothly.
continue breathing this way.
* count each breath to myself: inhale “1″, exhale “2″,inhale “3″,etc
* anytime i become aware of a new thought (other than my counting):
start the count over at “1″
* once my count reaches 10 i hve finished with the exercise.
* its easy to get frustrated with this exercise or not be able to count past “1″ or “2″
without a thought invading. patience this is a discipline building exercise
SIMPLE BREATH MEDITATION
* in this exercise I can lay comfortably or sit on a chair… A postition where I where my breathing isn’t restricted.
* I allow my self to breath naturally.
* I now just observe it. (I might imagine it as a a wave as rises and falls)
* There natural hiccups or quick changes in my breath– I am not trying to change or control my breath just allow my body to breath as it does.
* I explore my breath and observe it. Its natural bumps and occasional quick gasps.
* thats it… Judging the way I breath or changing the way i breath is not a goal here. Its just observing and being with my breath.
* if some physical feelings come.. such as anxiousness.. I just observe me body breathing and feeling.
* I can do this as long as I want.
COUNTING/ BREATHING QUICK PLAN
– In A Stressful, Anxious , Angry or Explosive moment… breathing can be a therapy
* first Stop!–your feelings are of the moment walk away if you can.
* Inhale and count 1,2 , 3
* exhale and count 5,4, 3,2,1,0
* continue to repeat — At first, it is ok to be racing as one is counting and breathing. go as fast as you wish.
* As I becomes more aware of my fast counting/ breathing…
I slow down my exhale… 5….4…3…2…1…0 — with each breath.
Gradually slower counting with each breath
The body’s Nervous system is wired to relax on exhales… Focusing and extending exhales will slow thing down in a pinch. eventually your body will just naturally inhale.
breathing mantras
breathing and concentrating on phrase can be also be soothing, peace finding or spiritual.
examples i use:
*(IN) breathing the universe in…(EX)breathing the universe out
*(IN) Breathing it in…. (Ex) Letting go of all thoughts
*(EX) I am Safe … (IN) I Feel free
*(IN) Tuning in … (EX) Lettin go.
i often switch the words i use from the INhale and Exhale to
relieve the perceptual duality of breathing.
————-
Breathing promotes better discipline when done often.
But testing and being creative with different exercise, discovering one’s
own breathing exercise….
ultimately promotes better intuitiveness
~
I am factory worker.. Not a doctor. I am also manager of health problems and i have to manage stress like everyone else…. and i used breathing exerices for almost a decade now.
Please feel free to copy these and explore breathing exercises for your self..
please feel free to link to this page if you think it is benicial to others..
-CB~
