I don’t know about you but cold winter Monday mornings make me just want to snuggle up and stay in bed.

But I had to face a busy day packed with catch up meetings, tasks and things to finish before the Christmas holidays. Busy, busy and I wanted to stay calm and in control.

Natural Calm and Control
It was then that I remembered something about how to create natural calm and be in control. It was something about the importance of deep breathing.

The fact is that apparently we don’t breathe deeply and fully enough. If we did we’d benefit enormously. Seven minutes a day of long, slow rythmic breathing lowers blood pressure and helps our brains work better. And according to Bharti Vyas, an ayurvedic practitioner and expert, we’d live a lot longer too.

So, almost without thinking about it, I found myself standing beside the bed and looking out of the window at my garden.

Breathing Exercise
Then starting with arms at my sides I slowly described an upward arch with my outstretched arms as I drew a breath in to the count of ten, held it for two beats and then letting my arms slowly travel down to my sides let the air slowly out of my lungs to a count of ten.

Then making sure all the breath was expired and counting two beats, I almost gasped for air as my lungs started to fill up again and using my arms to determine the speed of the breath, filled my lungs up as before. After ten cycles like this, I stopped and looked at the sky, the garden and felt totally in the moment.

This feeling stayed with me most of the day and it had such a marked effect on how I encountered and dealt with each new demand on my time or request for my input. It was much easier for me and I highly recommend it to you.

It’s very simple and easy to do. Just take your time and breath slowly for at least ten breaths. You can do it first thing or at any point in the day.

Go on try it today, or anytime and notice the difference it makes.
Let me know how you get on.