KEEP CALM AND BREATH
Take a moment to examine a long, deep breath. Notice the quiet moment between the in-breath and the out-breath. Like a change in direction, there is a moment of pause where everything is still. In this moment alone, the body is peaceful and the breath rests.
Life has become busier and the pace of life faster. We move from one job to the next, spend hours in front of computer screens and eat food on the go. Although we’ve become more aware of the need to slow down and recalibrate, it can be hard to find the time or the know how to do so. ‘Finding the pause’ can be as simple as stopping and breathing. Just take five long breaths to clear your mind, calm your system and be ready to start again into the next job. Connect with how you’re feeling now, in this moment. Let the completed job go and the next job wait.
SLOWING DOWN
I find the busier I get, the faster I move and the more I take on. It’s as if life is moving in constant circles getting faster and faster until something, eventually, has to give. Then I get a reminder that I need to slow down, pause and breath. It can seem impossible sometimes to stop but the next time you’re in the throes of a hectic day scan your body. Are your shoulders tight, are you holding tension in your back, are you breathing shallow breaths or even holding your breath! As a result we make a list of things we intend to do to remedy this tension when sometimes it’s as simple as taking a deep breath. Becoming aware of how you feel is the first step to making changes. Find the pause between breaths, between jobs, between meetings, waiting at traffic lights; you can even find it between asanas in your yoga practice.
Ruth Delahunty Yogaru