Understanding the Mind Breath Connection
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Posted by Teresa Keast (Teresa4Yoga) on 27 Feb 2020
Our mind and our breath are irrevocably linked. By understanding how the breath connects the mind and the body you can choose both your mental and your physical state by consciously changing the way you breathe.
Notice how you breathe when you are stressed, fearful, angry, anxious or feeling overwhelmed.
There is a tightness in the top of your chest, your breath is shallow and rapid, causing your heart to race. During a panic attack when fearful thoughts overwhelm us this shallow rapid breathing is exacerbated.
So what can we do:
When you realise you are feeling overwhelmed simply come into an awareness of your body by taking your focus to your breath.
Allow your shoulders to relax, as you start to slow your breathing down,breathing a little deeper with each breath. Keep a gentle focus on the breath. and as you breathe allow your rib cage to relax and your upper back to start to open.
You can imagine you are creating a channel for the breath between your sternum (breast bone) and your spine. With each breath you extend this channel down through the chest and gradually through the diaphragm muscle (solar plexis) area until it is comfortable to breathe into your belly. Place your hands gently on your stomach and as you breathe in fill your belly with air and your hands move away from the spine. Then gently pull your hands back toward the spine as you release the air. Your chest simply follows. Find a natural calm rhythm that is just right for your body. Breathing in this way you work with the diaphragm muscle and after just a few breathes you will notice several things; Your mind calms down, there is space. You will feel calm and energised physically.
You come into the present moment, aware of the here and now rather than caught up in the thoughts of the past or worries about the future. Peace resides in the present moment.
You connect with a stillness within, a quiet peaceful place inside you in which you are strong, calm and clear. From this stillness you can step back from the thoughts that run in your mind and simply observe them. See them come into your mind and see them past through. Just quietly watching your thoughts. After a time You come to see that you are not your thoughts. You are that which watches them. As you practice this technique your thoughts start to loose their power over you and you realise you have a choice as to whether to give them attention or not. You have taken back control of your state of mind and body.
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