Manage Your Emotional Habits and Thought Patterns: 3. Alone time

Release through creating a space for yourself: alone time, breathing exercises

中文版

Breathing exercises

Emotional ruts can be like quicksand that trap you and suck you in. The more you struggle thoughtlessly, the deeper you are pulled in. The more you panic and hyperventilate, the more out of breath you will become. The most effective way around it is to make the time and space to relax. How?

● Begin by breathing slowly. Inhale deeply and imagine sending the breath into our abdomen. At the top of your inhale, hold in the breath for a count of three. Then, release and exhale slowly. Repeat. After this breathing exercise, your heart rate will slow and calm will soon follow.

● A second option is to imagine the word ‘calm’ or images that calm you when you are holding our breath.

● A third variation, adapted from yoga pranayama (yoga breathing techniques) is similar to the first breathing exercise:

i. Exhale completely through your mouth.

ii. Close your mouth, then inhale deeply through your nose to a count of 4.

iii. At the top of the breath, hold your breath to a count of 7.

iv. Exhale slowly, completely, and audibly to a count of 8.

v. The above is one breath. Repeat for a minimum of 4 cycles.

The exact time you spend on each phase is not important. What is important is the ratio 4:7:8.

The logic behind these breathing exercises is to give us the time and opportunity to be mindful, stay calm, and remain collected. Consciously slowing and deepening our breaths activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for conserving energy and slowing the heart-rate.

Any time you feel disturbed or under pressure, you can mentally detach yourself from the situation and use a breathing technique to cut through the chaos and create space for yourself.

Reflection

You can also spend some time alone in reflection, examining your emotions and letting them settle. Use a breathing exercise to physically calm your body through activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Once you have created mental space, actively examine yourself:

1. What are you feeling?

2. What is causing the feeling and why?

3. How is it affecting you?

4. Decide if this kind of feeling is what you want, or;

5. Acknowledge that this is only a feeling, an expression of emotion

6. Decide what kind of emotion you would rather experience and what you can do about this

7. Embrace the more desirable emotion fully, completely, and wholeheartedly

© 2018 code-R. All rights reserved.