Breathing & Connecting to our body
During the Month of April, we will focus on becoming more aware of our breathe.
We often get carried away in every day life and don’t realise how we are breathing.
Are we holding our breathe?
Are we tensing our stomach necessarily without even realising it?
If we tense our stomach, especially our upper abdominal area, when we are just sitting or not doing anything this restricts our breathing.
It is important to notice our breathe as often as we can to helps us become more mindful of our body and ensure we are connecting to our body.
When we are too caught up in our heads, we are not in the present moment.
So your focus this month is to connect to your breathe at least once per day, watch the inhale and watch the exhale.
Notice if you are holding your breathe, tightening your tummy, at times that are not necessary.
If we allow the body (belly and ribs), to expand while we breathe, this is called diaphragmatic breathing and is essential for proper breathing.
The more we hold onto the belly and shallow breathe into our chest the more we are restricting and creating tension.
It is ok for there to be some movement in our upper chest area, but ideally this is not the only area that is moving.
One way to really help connect is to put your hand on your belly just below the belly button and focus your attention there.
This will direct not only your breathe but also your mind to that area. It’s a great way of connecting to your body and staying present and relaxed, especially during stressful times.
We can all get busy and many of us can sometimes feel anxious doing our day, so this will really help you relax.
Let me know how you go.
Em x
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