Thursday, May 14, 2009

Heart Focus Breathing

Another tip from the Heart Math De-Stress kit!

Heart-focused Breathing to reduce stress and anxiety.

Practice breathing while imagining your breath passing in and out through your heart area or the center of your chest. Envision yourself as taking a time out to refuel your system by breathing in an attitude of calm and balance (like breathing in an emotional tonic to take the rough edges off).

The key to making this exercise effective is to generate the true feeling of calm and balance. You can substitute calm and balance at times with breathing the feeling of appreciation or compassion (or whatever attitude you choose to breathe). This can be done in a quiet place or while walking, jogging, and even in a conversation once you get familiar with it. It’s very helpful for reducing anxiety, anger and mild depression.
Here is the short version of the above technique for quick reference:

1. Imagine the breath passing in and out through the heart or the center of the chest.

2. Breathe an attitude of calm or balance (or whatever positive feeling you choose) to help restore balance.
Heart-focused breathing is being taught by doctors, nurses and clinics throughout the world. It’s especially helpful during times of crisis or whenever you experience anger, anxiety or emotional overload. Heart-focused breathing exercises can help you shift stress-producing attitudes more quickly and reset your stress tolerance baseline.

I recommend that when your energy is low or you are feeling anxious you stop whatever you are doing, close your eyes, take a 3 minute break and do this technique. This is a very quick and effective centering practice.
Breathe deeply and be in the moment!

Marion & Tracy

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