Eight months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 241.
Yesterday, I talked about struggling to find answers. Today is a new day.
Since then I've gotten pretty comfortable talking with and meeting new people. Working retail in high school definitely forced me out of my comfort zone and helped me get over my nervousness. When working retail you have to approach people, hold conversations, and sell things. For someone who is generally pretty introverted this was really awkward for me to do and it definitely showed. I remember talking to a customer during the holidays. They noticed how nervous I was and told me to "relax", "breath", and "keep my cool". They could relate with my experience and used to be like me and wanted to help. This advice has helped me in a lot of ways.
It's funny how although we breathe all of the time, most of us don't really pay attention to our breathing because it's so automatic. I ended up practicing remembering to breath normally when talking so I don't get too nervous. I noticed that my breathing was all over the place and practicing rhythmic breathing helped me relax and keep my mind steady when in stressful situations.
When working out, this technique is very important with maintaining a good blood flow in the body and keeping your stamina up. When your breathing isn't controlled and the pace is unsteady, it becomes harder to exercise. This applies to so many aspects of our lives. People who are nervous tend to take more frequent breaths and the lack of oxygen to our brain keeps us from thinking straight. It makes our heart beat at abnormal paces, and it makes us sweat. In studying, proper breathing can help us study more efficiently. In trying to focus, having steady breaths calms the mind and helps mitigate distractions. Breathing is so simple, yet so important. It's no wonder why practices like yoga and martial arts, which have spiritual roots, emphasize this point so much.
Feeling stressed? Breathe. Angry? Breathe. Tired? Breathe.Mindfulness and meditation have helped me become more aware of my thoughts and in situations where I might normally get mad or wanna blow up at someone, taking some deep breaths always brings me back to that calm and collected center. Just breathe.
Peace
Yesterday, I talked about struggling to find answers. Today is a new day.
"When people ask me what the most important thing is in life, I answer: 'Just breathe.'" - Yoko OnoI was talking to a friend at the gym about meeting people and it reminded me of how I used to be really nervous around meeting new people. I used to worry about saying the wrong things or being misunderstood and then judged. I just wanted to be me, but my fears kept me from doing it and I ended up being nervous around people.
Since then I've gotten pretty comfortable talking with and meeting new people. Working retail in high school definitely forced me out of my comfort zone and helped me get over my nervousness. When working retail you have to approach people, hold conversations, and sell things. For someone who is generally pretty introverted this was really awkward for me to do and it definitely showed. I remember talking to a customer during the holidays. They noticed how nervous I was and told me to "relax", "breath", and "keep my cool". They could relate with my experience and used to be like me and wanted to help. This advice has helped me in a lot of ways.
It's funny how although we breathe all of the time, most of us don't really pay attention to our breathing because it's so automatic. I ended up practicing remembering to breath normally when talking so I don't get too nervous. I noticed that my breathing was all over the place and practicing rhythmic breathing helped me relax and keep my mind steady when in stressful situations.
When working out, this technique is very important with maintaining a good blood flow in the body and keeping your stamina up. When your breathing isn't controlled and the pace is unsteady, it becomes harder to exercise. This applies to so many aspects of our lives. People who are nervous tend to take more frequent breaths and the lack of oxygen to our brain keeps us from thinking straight. It makes our heart beat at abnormal paces, and it makes us sweat. In studying, proper breathing can help us study more efficiently. In trying to focus, having steady breaths calms the mind and helps mitigate distractions. Breathing is so simple, yet so important. It's no wonder why practices like yoga and martial arts, which have spiritual roots, emphasize this point so much.
Feeling stressed? Breathe. Angry? Breathe. Tired? Breathe.Mindfulness and meditation have helped me become more aware of my thoughts and in situations where I might normally get mad or wanna blow up at someone, taking some deep breaths always brings me back to that calm and collected center. Just breathe.
Peace
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| Breathe and find your focus. |
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