mindful breathing
Have you ever been in a room when tensions build and someone upturns two “Ok” signs and says, “Everybody just breathe.” It usually gets a laugh, but the funny thing is — it actually works!
The most basic technique of mindfulness meditation is simply becoming aware of our breath. When we breathe in through the nose, we can say to ourselves, “Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.” As we breathe out, “Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out.”
We can even just say to ourselves, “In” and then “Out.”
As we do this, our breathing gets gentler — more peaceful. A sense of calm realization may come over us. This mindful breathing technique is also referred to as “conscious breathing,” and you can practice any time without being noticed — sitting in a meeting, standing in line at a store, driving and even during confrontation.
Soon after learning about the importance of mindful breathing, I flew to the East Coast, and at one point the flight became extremely turbulent. I started to feel queasy, but I sat back in my chair, focused on a small spot on the chair in front of me and practiced breathing in deeply through my nose, saying in my mind “breathing in” and gently out “breathing out.” Within a minute I didn’t notice the turbulence. Overhead bins kept rattling, but I felt centered.
Mindful breathing helps us feel centered, even when we don’t know what will happen next.
