STRESS FREE MIND with breathing techniques
Pointers towards how to boost a stress-free mind
1. ENERGY – To combat stress, we need more energy. Inhaling long deep breaths helps us to enhance our life energy levels. Filling up our lungs with maximum oxygen helps us to increase the functional capacity of our internal organs. Just like better blood circulation improves overall health, higher oxygen levels boosts our energy levels. Bhastrika is one powerful breathing technique to shake off nervousness and fill up with newfound energy and enthusiasm.
2. FLEXIBILITY – When stress happens, because of our rigidness, we either break or fail without being flexible. These breathing exercises allows us to be in flexible mode – ready to adapt to any situation, person or task. Our brain muscles are toned so that they function with agility and become shock absorbers to bear shattering news and we become more resilient to trauma or loss. Our emotions are directly connected to our breath. If we are not careful, the emotions can rule our life ending up with wrong decisions and a messy life. Instead, if we know how to deal with these emotions, we can be in charge of our life. For example, on a hill station we get a WOW moment opening our breath in full flow as we are mesmerized in awe of the scenic beauty. We can get back this wow moment anytime we take fuller deeper breaths. When we are sad, we usually have shallow breath and by using breathing techniques we can come out of sadness promptly. This is the power of breath which make us in charge of our emotions and enables us to be in response mode rather than in reaction mode. Our resilience power increases and we can forebear any bad situation staying calm and stable. This is the secret of becoming rock solid. Your will power escalates tremendously as you are in charge of your life.
3. BALANCE – Our brain has two aspects, left connected with analytical part and right connected with emotional part. Both are important for our functioning. However in most of the cases, if we are not very alert or aware, our mind tends to be lopsided to either the emotional or analytical half. The right balance is required to have a clear perspective and hence our thought process will be steered in the right direction. Here also through Nadi shodhan Pranayam or Breath purification breathwork, we can activate both sides of the brain and maintain the right balance.
4. RHYTHM – By default, our biological system has a rhythm as a part of Nature. As we move from our childhood to maturity, we are getting influenced by outside conditioning and our inner tendencies also interrupt the rhythm, resulting in abnormalities like stress and diseases. The natural rhythm is reflection of our body-mind synchronicity and breath is the link between our mind and body. Practicing breathing techniques helps us to align our mind body in one harmony.
5. COMFORT ZONE – Most of the times, we get stressed when we deal with people, situations, or tasks that fall outside our comfort zone. We can get over this phobia or myth that comfort keeps us safe, once we know how many opportunities we are missing out on by not stepping out of our comfort zone. What is comfort… that which we are used to or we think it will provide pleasure and safety. But the fact is in long term, comfort only limits us and if we prepare ourself for discomfort we can face anything and everything. If we can embrace embarrassment, we conquer half the battle with our readiness, “Be it, so what!’’ Here also breathwork releases the tension and with new found relaxed rested mode, with upgraded energy levels, we move on to next level of growth crossing our comfort zone barriers. We learn new things, ready to bear more risk for a brighter future. We move on from no mind to YES mind.
6. UNDERSTANDING NATURE OF MIND – One of the major reasons of stress is that we cannot let go of past pain, loss or regrets or anything negative. The nature of our mind is such that it clings on to negativity and doubts only positive thoughts. For instance, if we are praised by 10 people, we will be overwhelmed and can’t take the appreciation in full spirit, we shy away thinking that they are only praising us out of courtesy, we doubt good things. But when 1 person insults us, we are not able to dismiss it the same way we dismiss the praise. We will believe and react immediately. The other propensity of our mind is to oscillate between past and future and hence we fail to focus on the present moment. Our mind is scattered all over and to bring it back to a one pointedness, breath can be instrumental.
Once we are aware of the tendencies of our mind, we watch out not to fall in its trap. The mind plays tricky games and lures us into more easy tasks and instant results but with breathing techniques, our awareness improves. With breathwork we are in witness mode, separating ourselves from our mind. Our mind automatically gets quietened like a good obedient child as we are directing our mind as a master to follow a particular technique. When the chattering mind is silenced, it is automatically rested. It returns to a stable position, in the present moment. FLUSHING OUT TOXIC THOUGHTS – The last but not the least is mental hygiene. If we don’t know how to dispose of our toxic thougts, we are going to fall sick both mentally and physically. Breathwork helps us to flush out these negative emotions and thoughts through proper exhalation. Kapalbhati is such powerful breath technique of forceful exhalations from the naval area. Bhanwari is another way to clear the cobwebs of brain through nozzle of one pointed forceful hmming sound of a bee keeping all windows of your senses closed. The blocked up areas will open up with jerks from forceful breaths at every level of our body be in naval area, heart region or top of the head.
We can bridge the gap between a stressed chaotic mind and a stable stress-free mind with mindfulness, following these breathing techniques.
