Including Yourself in a Breath

It’s easy to buy into the pace of our culture and feel that you have been reduced to another automated system.  It’s harder to remember that we are not here simply do as others would like that we have a purpose- claiming that purpose can be as simple as claiming a breath.  We can lose our purpose in intense conversations or just going through the ordinary activities of living.  My preferred style of work for years was to come to my desk and sit till the job was finished no matter what.  Some of us tune out, everyday, in front of TV’s and sit in front of the TV until it’s time to sleep.  Remembering that we have a place in the ebb and flow of life is harder. 

There is so much negativity in the media and in even the expressions people use in popular culture, it’s easy to feel defeated before we even claim the first word of a sentence.  Language that demeans us to certain roles and ways of being can really get a person down or lead to unexpressed anger and outrage.  We can take that anger out on ourselves by feeling powerless and like there is nothing that we can do.  Of course buying into that feeling of powerless is just another way that we reduce ourselves to another automated system.

Breathing isn’t easy as trauma survivors or people living with behavioral health conditions, the breath gets stifled when we tune out.  Breathing can be a tremendous ally, particularly when working with challenging situations.  A simple good breath, while you tell others how you feel can assist you in staying calm and centered as you stake a claim in the world of humanity.  Remembering to get a good breath in, can be a tipping point not only for new conversations with others about who you are, but also a tipping point into remembering the relationship that you have with yourself.

We can ask our body to tune out the simplest messages.  Messages like, I have a headache forming or I need to go the restroom or I am getting upset.  In a breath we can accept and love our body for having needs and take can of them.  We can listen and give ourselves the things that we need.  In claiming a breath, we might find the power to tell a person we feel judged by them and how.  We can write into news media and share with them a better way to converse.  We can remember what it means to live a life of purpose versus automating ourselves to the demands of the TV or work.

Of course there are lots of wellness skills we can practice, but I think the simplest is just to remember to breathe into claiming our lives as human.  Try it -  just straighten you posture a bit or raise your hands over your head so you can get a slow full breath that expands your belly.