The ultimate beginners guide to self care, tips on breathing and relaxation. You don’t need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax, rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation.
Successfully rid your body from stress with these two breathing exercises. You can activate your body’s natural relaxation response, a state of deep rest that puts the brakes on stress, slows your breathing and heart rate, lowers your blood pressure, and brings your body and mind back into balance. You can do this by practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, rhythmic exercise, yoga, or tai chi.
Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few minutes of careful breathing is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous system: Be calm.
Furthermore, rest and sleep are essential to recharge our nervous energy as our physical, emotional and mental balance depends on the quantity and quality of these vital necessities.
With the stress of our daily jobs, traffic while commuting to and from these jobs, schools, studies, parenting etc having a relaxation technique to fall back on will be indispensable for any and everyone.
Self care tips on breathing and relaxation the ultimate beginners guide
Here is one 5-minute Breath Break. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.)
1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don’t slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.
2. Close your eyes gently and let them rest behind closed lids.
3. Think about your ribs, at the front, back, and at the sides of your body. Your lungs are behind those ribs.
4. Feel your lungs filling up, your ribs expanding out and up. Feel your lungs emptying, your ribs coming back down and in. Don’t push the breath.
5. The first few times you do this, do it for 2 to 3 minutes, then do it for up to 5 to 10 minutes. At first, set aside a time at least once a day to do this. When you learn how good it makes you feel, you’ll want to do it at other times as well.
Self care tips on breathing and relaxation the ultimate beginners guide
Just as one stressful situation goes into your next challenge, relaxing for a few minutes every day gradually carries over into the rest of your daily life and activities.
In the midst of the daily demands of life, relaxing is indispensable. One method of attaining this will be the relaxation offered by the Corpse Pose from Yoga. Executed in only 10-15 minutes, this simple yet powerful pose is indeed a boon for rejuvenation best acquired by taking time to rest and recharging our batteries so to speak. Let’s learn how today.
This relaxation technique mostly involves lying motionless while applying a combination of deep square breathing and mental suggestions.
This following pose/exercise will show you how.
Technique:
-First, lay motionless on your back with the arms and legs slightly extended.
-Secondly, start off by breathing deeply in counts of 5 that being in a ratio of 5:5:5
(inhalation-retention-exhalation)
-After a few minutes of this, begin to make what is defined as auto suggestions
to the limbs starting from the toes by mentally affirming that “My toes are hereby relaxed, My feet are hereby relaxed” etc…working upwards to the head and internally through the internal organs.
-After several minutes of this, resume the deep square breathing for about 2-3 minutes.
-Next, begin to mentally chant this Yogic quote: “I am that pure consciousness or self” (You may substitute this with a verse from the books of your religious faith for example: “Those who wait upon God shall renew their strength” or any energizing quote for that matter like a simple “I am being relaxed and energized at this moment…”
-Continue mentally affirming this phrase for several minutes, then roll over to your right side and remain motionless while all the while maintaining the 5:5:5 breathing schedule for an additional minute.
-Finally, arise from the position.
Final Thoughts
Personally, I employ the use of a timed metronome or the steady tick of a nearby wall clock to keep time and sequence. Moreover, I often practice spurts of this technique during my yoga session and a full 15 minutes afterwards. At the office, I sometimes just sit back in the chair and apply the deep breathing and auto suggestions mostly with my eyes closed.
However, one truth remains, whenever one needs to relax, this simple Yogic technique does offer a safe and effective means of attaining this.
I always tell people: “Hey if it is said God took a break on the 7th day after making the world, who are we as humans not to take time out to rest?”
That said, empower yourself with the knowledge of this technique offered by Yoga whenever you need time to just relax.
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Be Blessed…Stay Safe