The modern society is a stressful one. Not only to-do lists, work responsibilities and household chores, but also in our minds. From world events being played in our living rooms every night, we have now gone to reading news and blogs several times a day, inundated by information about people who live thousands of miles from us. All this can easily become overwhelming. Whatever we become stressed by the society shows us that the need to take our eyes off the screen and to look within is great. There is the best possible tool for a quiet life – our own breathing.
If one sits for a few minutes and allows the breath to become deep, one can directly feel how the body relaxes. What happens is that the substances cortisol and adrenaline – rushing around inside of us when we are stressed – decrease in the body when we take deep breaths.
Deep breathing is a great tool to live in the present. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time, even though it frequently feels like there are ten thousand at the same time, it is just the thoughts jumping back and forth. When you focus on breathing you end up here and now, and stress over the future or the past is gone. If you feel that this is not the case, it is quite natural. The thoughts are used to jumping and it takes time before they calm down. It is important to remember the basic rule in breathing exercises and meditation; if the thoughts sail away, just return your focus to the breath and leave them without reacting to them. It does not matter if it happens a thousand times; just bring your attention back to your breathing.
There are many breathing exercises and it can be difficult to know where to begin. In the next part I will raise a point recommended by doctors around the world, which not only calms down the body, but as with regular exercise can also improve health.
