The body is always breathing for us. How often do you notice it? I mean really notice it with conscious effort? Sometimes our thought patterns can keep us away from noticing the breath. There isn’t enough space to focus – or so we think – but perhaps this space is exactly what we need to declutter the mind. If you feel that you have been ruminating or observing thought patterns, perhaps negative ones or thoughts that don’t serve you well – offer this pause in your day. Come back to this breathwork practice whenever you need to center yourself and bring your focus away from those thoughts and on to your breath.
Quite simply this breathwork practice can be done anywhere at any time. Your practice is to be able to still the mind within moments of closing your eyes. When you feel you are STUCK on a particular thought – perhaps something happened in your day or your life that you just can’t let go of – you keep thinking up different situations and scenarios or try to make sense of an event that occurred. As much as you try you just can’t seem to navigate away from the thoughts.
There is a method called STOP – where you notice the intrusive thoughts and tell yourself mentally – STOP as soon as you become aware. While this method can be successful – sometimes it is hard to STOP and that might be abrupt – instead this gentle practice is a PAUSE – knowing you can return to those thoughts should you NEED or want…
Let’s begin. Simply close your eyes and become witness to the thoughts you have had recently. Are these thought patterns circulating? Are you clinging? Do you feel within your heart that you wish you could let them go? Now imagine within your mind that these thoughts are playing like a video on a screen – you consciously PAUSE the view.
With your eyes closed take 3 slow and steady deep breaths. Breathing consciously in through the nose – only feeling the fullness of your breath – all of your awareness is on the breath – now pause once you find the top of your inhale – stay for a moment – feel the discomfort swirling in your chest. As you exhale feel the breath leaving your body, relaxing you into the moment. Pause when you reach the bottom of your exhale – squeezing out the breath through your nostrils until your belly squeezes in tightly and you can’t let out any more air. Now pause at the bottom of the exhale. Hold. Keeping feeling the pause – what does the sensation create in the body?
Continue with this full breath cycle for 2 more rounds.
Notice what the body feels like on the pause between breaths. Notice how you feel when your full awareness is on every stage of the breath. Full awareness on the breath leaves little room for thoughts to circulate. The more you practice this whenever you become conscious of the thoughts present the more you can anchor yourself into the moment.
Use this simple breathwork practice whenever you need – PAUSE, take 3 full complete rounds of breath.
Sometimes it helps to tell yourself to PAUSE. Take the breaths you need. Perhaps you follow this over and over until you feel lighter and lighter. Until those circulating thoughts have lost momentum. Continue with this practice for as long as you need.
You can’t control what goes on in your external world and even though you may “think” you can’t let go of a thought – it is possible – even if for a moment.
May this breath work practice lead you to find a pause in your day, for letting go of that which does not serve you, and bring yourself to find peace.