Mid Month Meditation - Number One

Life begins and ends with a breath but it is the quality of the breath that enhances or sabotages our day to day life. Focusing on awareness and how we breathe in all situations and learning techniques to maximise its quality, improves our life physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Life is simple, breathing is simple. We choose to make it hard. Embrace breathing with respect and inhale into the fullness of your life. Expand your breath and enhance your life. Throughout September, focus on what is known on the 'Breath of Longevity', the technique of always having a longer out breath than the in breath. They say it's in the out breath that all the goodness gets transferred from the blood to the cells. Under stress, or in a panic we tend to suck in a deep breath or hold our breath. Wrong! This leads to more stress, hyperventilation and panic attacks which are crippling. It's so easy to shift your bad breathing into healthy, grounded breathing that feeds your body and soul well. The trick is to stick with it. Practice really does make perfect and you can make a huge shift in 3 weeks so that it becomes instinctive. 1     Watch your breathing in a detached way. Observe if its deep or shallow, if it's shallow; if it's fast or slow. Does stress affect it and how? Awareness is key.

2.     Find a comfortable space, sitting or lying down. Focus on breathing in for a count of 4 - in through the nose and out on a count of 8 through the mouth by blowing or hissing like a deflating tyre. The face shouldn't be moving much. If you wander off, keep coming back to the counting and the technique. Don't let your inner saboteur distract you and put you off. Remember, you're choosing to be distracted. Be in charge of your brain, don't let it be in charge of you! Being in the moment allows your being to integrate; to be in control without controlling.

Once you have mastered this simple but profound technique, you can do it anywhere, such as travelling on a plane, bus, train or waiting for an appointment. Try it whilst you walk from A to B. Try it everywhere and anywhere. See how doing it regularly makes a difference to your life.