“Your healing and happiness are your gifts to your family, to your friends, and to the world.”
During the month of February we are preoccupied with Love. Thinking about it, expressing it, desiring it, perhaps missing it. February’s holiday, Valentines Day even claims our most popular icon, the Heart.
We often find ourselves giving to others monetary gifts to express the love we feel in our hearts. It is a time too, where we may acknowledge an opportunity to practice receiving and allowing ourselves & others to bask in the present of presence. The gift of our time, our talents, our touch, our Being with another are the true treasures of celebrating this month of Love.
What about the gifts we really desire for & from our loved ones? What is everlasting in the treasure we experience when our loved ones are healthy and happy?
As Robert Holden shares, these are the true gifts we have to offer others.
The single most effective tool I have discovered for achieving that place of abundant giving is . .breathing.
There are many methods & practices of breathing embraced by different communities & particular paths of study. We have the Yoga breath, the Pilates breath, the “birth-giving” breath, the breath best used for runners, & the breath of our Spirit that is last to leave our bodies.
I have discovered a specific breathing practice that absolutely re-centers & grounds me to the present moment. It is the same practiced breathing that opens the conduit from my inner wisdom to my expression in the outer world. It enables me to identify the negative feelings I’ve been suppressing for years & provides a vessel for these energies to dissipate & escape from my body.
Those who have worked with me know I call my specific way of mindful and deliberate breathing, Exaggerated Breathing. It has always been my nature to embellish on a good thing.
It is this same practiced Breathing that relaxes me when activated, gives me pause when agitated, frees me up to recognize my moment of choice.
This way of breathing anchors me to my source, expands my experience of joy, & partners with me to celebrate life.
Exaggerated Breathing
Step 1 ~ Take a long deep inhale through your nose
Step 2 ~ Pause with the awareness of your inhale expanding your body
Step 3 ~ Exhale through your open mouth allowing your body to release
Sometimes one good breath will do it. And if not, repeat as necessary.