We have become a nation of shallow breathers: Guest Blogger Patti Hester

Does the world seem different to you than it did 5 years ago? The energy seems different to me. We are living in chaotic times. Even the evening news can stress us out, not to mention work and daily living.

Do you find you are sometimes less patient or you get easily irritated with people or things? Or do you feel you are just sensitive to more things than you used to be? Do you even feel sometimes you are taking a step backwards from being the best person you are trying to be?  Everything that we experience in our world is mirroring what is going on in the inside. If we could just settle down on the inside it would reflect in the outside world.

One of the simplest ways to handle anything is deep breathing. We have become a nation of shallow breathers. When you take a deep breath we think that we need to fill our lungs. Actually we need to breathe deeply from the diaphragm (the stomach area). Taking 4 deep breaths can take us away momentarily from what ever problem we are facing. This will calm you down, help with stress and maybe even keep you from saying something that may hurt someone's feelings. If nothing else, you have added oxygen to your brain and the cells in your body and got your mind off your problem and on to feeling well.

This is also good if you have trouble falling asleep. As you breathe in, raise your arms up above your head and bring your arms down as you breathe out. You will be making a snow angel arm gesture when breathing in and out.

So anytime you feel irritable or negative try deep breathing. It is something you can do anywhere and quickly to bring you back in balance and have peace and calm in your life. Breath deeply several times a day just for the heck of it. See if it doesn't help diffuse some situations.

Always thankfu,

Patti