Breathing is a-PEEL-ing!
YOUR Practice Off The Mat
Vol. 2 Issue 4
Peeling back the layers!
Do you ever stop look at the tools you have at your disposal? I’m not referencing your yoga, movement, or mindfulness practices (yet!). I’m referring to everyday items that help you accomplish something.
Sitting here at my desk I look around and immediately I notice:
Desk, printer, file cabinet, chair, earbuds, charging cords, laptop, keyboard, water bottle, coffee cup, pen, paper, bananagram tiles, car keys, thumb drives, BLT bagel from Rover, cell phone, headset for zoom calls, little stick thingy that tells you if an outlet has power or not… you get the idea.
We are surrounded by a million items that make our day easier. Some used often. Some disposable. Some have an intended singular purpose.
How do you utilize them? Do you use them exactly as intended? Do you find different ways of using them?
Noreen and I have been married for almost 19 years. One of the gifts that we received as part of a kitchen tool set was a vegetable peeler (the very one pictured above). Sturdy, sharp, handy. It still works like a charm.
It wasn’t until last month when Nor asked “Did you know this has a little implement for removing the ‘eyes’ from potatoes?”
I did not.
Nineteen years. Roughly eleventy-hundred thousand potatoes. I had absolutely no idea that that this little scooper tip thing had a purpose.
A few days later I made baked potatoes. I had to use it on a couple of them. And my mind was blown. Like holy shit. This was WAY easier, far more effective, less wasteful, and I was 89.37% less likely to slice my thumb off when compared against using a paring knife.
Mind blown.
I felt that weird feeling – you know the one. It is a mix of glee in discovering something so new and awesome. Yet it is tinged with a little shame for it being so obvious and simple that the only reason why I didn’t know about it was because I was sick that day of “How to Be a Normal Functioning Adult” school.
THE FLOW OF THE MOMENT
We get so used to the presence of the items and tools that surround us. We stop noticing their variability. We don’t even realize their full purpose, or their aspects of multidimensional use.
The same thing applies to your yoga and mindfulness practice (told you we’d get there).
For a lot of individuals the practice is only done on the mat, in the studio. Sign up, go to the studio/log-in online, settle on the mat, do the practice, feel better for an hour. Take a few breaths filled with ease and relaxation, peace and grace. Then log-out, drive home, and immediately jump back in the grind leaving it all behind.
How do you apply the tools of your practice in other areas of your life?
As you’ve heard me say a million times – there’s no real wrong answer. The question, the inquiry – that’s what’s important. Are you noticing the opportunity for questioning and exploring how to use your practice to support your everyday moments in different ways?
Here is one example: your breath.
The breath, is pretty awesome.
Sure, at a baseline the breath’s purpose is the cellular respiration that your body needs to keep functioning and keep you alive. But the breath is also one of the most versatile tools you have in your practice. How you apply the intentional use of your breath can be powerful.
An Anchoring Tool: You can use the constant presence of your breath to focus on just one thing when the mind is busy or overwhelmed. You don’t even have to try and control it! Just noticing and saying “I’m breathing in. I’m breathing out.”
Physical Body Awareness: There is constant change in the physical body that happens while breathing. Notice the ribs and lungs expand. Notice the abdomen expand. Notice shoulders rising a little and falling. By gradually bringing awareness to the body, you can also invite more calm to the mind.
Calming the Nervous System: If you find yourself on edge focusing on the breath and then altering its pattern can calm the nervous system. That can be by cycling through progressively longer inhales & exhales. Or by having a longer exhale than inhale.
Stimulating the Nervous System: you can use your breath to increase heart rate and activate the physical body. If you want to psych yourself up for activity or bring a boost of energy and heightened state of alertness or awareness.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Remember that different people have different bodies and life experiences. What works for one person may not work the same for another. Offer yourself grace to not hold judgement if something doesn’t feel right for you. Try something different. This is why you practice. Discover what works and then bring it with you into your daily life.
Ultimately the breath is arguably the most powerful and versatile tool that you have. Once you become aware of these uses and put them to use more often, you may suddenly find yourself having more control than you thought.
As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “the breath is a bridge that connects consciousness to life.”
Take care of yourself. You are the only of you out there. We need you.
Chris