The healing power of BREATH

I have a question for you.

What do you do when you’re feeling super anxious, overwhelmed and/or super irritable?

When it feels like the walls are caving in and you’re about to fly off the handle with your kids or loved ones?

Because as Dads, we’ve all been there (and if you haven't yet, you WILL BE).

There are going to be moments (and in my experience, many of them) when our child does something that pushes our buttons.

And because we’re stressed and over-tired, we lose our cool.

It happens to the best of us. But it doesn’t have to happen very often.

There are conscious breathing practices which can 'bring us back to earth', so to speak.

They’re short, simple and practical.

Through regular practice of them, we have dominion over our energies and attendant emotions...

and can almost instantaneously create a “gap” between stimulus and response...

so that we can become the calm in the storm for our kids.

Because every time we fly off the handle, we’re leaving a lasting impression on our child’s nervous system and subconscious view of the world.

And you have way more POWER over this than you may know.

These days my 'go-to' in moments of great stress is my breath. But it wasn't always the case.

You see, for as long as I can remember I’ve had trouble breathing. In fact from 9-23 yrs old, I was addicted to Afrin nasal spray.

It started as a means to relieve congestion from a serious cold I had, but then it continued for the next 15 yrs. It pretty much ruled my life.

I wouldn’t go anywhere without it and probably used it 7-8 x/day.

The left side was always way more congested than the right, so I’d squirt about 5 times in the left, 1 on the right every time I used it.

If I didn’t have it, I was a nightmare to be around. I was uptight, super anxious, irritable and had a very short fuse.

Looking back now, this may be tied to why I was always super anxious as a kid...which lead me to being a super anxious adult.

Because probably 95% of the time I was breathing out of the right nostril.

Right nostril breathing is a left brain activity. Left brain is associated with sympathetic nervous system activation. This is fight or flight mode and go, go, go. And stimulation of prolonged sympathetic activation often leads to anxiety, stress and overwhelm....

which is what I experienced a lot of my life.

(Subsequently I developed a deviated septum so still to this day my left nostril is way more congested than right a lot of the time).

The crazy thing about this, is that I didn’t put this all together until about 3 yrs ago (47 yrs old) after I had a complete breakdown leading up to the birth of my son.

It was following this event, that I began to really study the art and science of breathing mechanics.

Turns out this was one of many things I was doing incorrectly.

I’ve since learned a number of breathing practices which serve as vaso and bronchial-dilators to open my airways and veins to allow more balanced breathing between left and right nostrils.

And guess what?

My anxiety and feelings of overwhelm are at all-time lows.

Why do I go into all this?

Because how we breathe directly affects our energy, mood, digestion, sleep, immunity and much more.

And for most of my life I was doing it all wrong.

And I don’t think it’s a stretch to say I’m betting most people are.

BUT...Change how you breathe and you can change your life.

If you’re interested in learning more, WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE. It's a workshop on did on the SCIENCE behind Conscious Breathing.  

I want to share it with you because in my experience, the most reliable and almost instantaneous state changes comes through consciously breathing...

...that is, intentionally controlling the rate and ratio of the incoming and outgoing breaths.

Just some breath for thought.

In my next BLOG coming in a few days, 5 Keys To Meditate With Ease, I'll share with you some powerful reasons to meditate as a father and 5 keys to get you meditating with ease.

Until then, DROP A COMMENT BELOW about what may have landed for you from this post and video. Let's get a conversation going!

Hope this is helpful,

Adam Brewer