The invitation to arrive in this moment is constantly being offered to you.

It’s up to you to take it.

• Breathing in I accept what is so in this moment.
• Breathing out I accept what is so in this moment.
• No resistance to what is so.
• Just being in this moment radically accepting what is so.
• Know the rat-mind, from the heart-mind.
• Embrace the path of no resistance.

The mind wants to believe that we can’t live without it and when we begin to see that we can,  it’s soft underbelly is exposed and vulnerable. In this state it’s first reaction is to strike back against it’s attacker and  use all of it’s defense mechanisms. These defense mechanisms come in varied form but in most cases it uses fear as it’s primary weapon. It may also use numbing tactics like immersing  oneself in a mindless television shows, playing a video games, or getting drunk, or high.

What can we do?

When we use our breath to come home and check in we can catch ourselves before we use a tactic, habit or substance to escape the rat mind. When we catch ourselves before we engage in that habit we can instill this practice,  the practice or  activity of just observing. Observing silently, without judgment and letting the thoughts pass by. Try sitting today for just two minutes. If your mind say’s it’s bored, then just sit there and be as bored as you can. Do boredom all the way. If your mind wont stop spinning,  just let it spin and don’t try to do a thing. Do nothing all the way everyday for just a few minutes. There is no need to have a formal meditation practice, just sit quietly, watch, listen and breath.

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• There is nothing to discover
• There is nothing to remove
• There is nothing to add
• There is nothing to see
• You are fine and there is nothing to fix
• There is no one to save
• You are whole and complete
• The journey is over
• You are home
• You have arrived

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If you think about it we were never taught to breath, isn’t that strange?  We have been living out our whole lives without the basic instructions on how to breathe properly. Isn’t that shocking?  Most of us breathe like little chipmunks that are being chased by Mr. Twinkles the neighborhood cat. That type of breathing is fight or flight, or panic breathing. We are all running from Mr. Twinkles in our own way throughout the day.

Some examples of using panic breathing would be:

• Rush hour traffic someone cuts you off.
• The boss yells at you in front of your whole team.
• Your child runs into the street.
• You have a confrontation with a co-worker, friend, or spouse that erupts into a full fledged argument.
• You are in pain from a stomach ache, injury or severe illness.

In all the instances we are usually taking very short and shallow breathes that only worsen the circumstance or situation. So what can we do? We can learn to breath properly. Here are some steps to proper breathing and recognizing the warning signs of panic breathing.

• Your body tenses up, clenched fist, or clenched jaws.
• Your sweating, shaking, tensed in the neck or shoulders.
• You have body aches in neck, shoulders, or hands.
• You have stomach aches, ulcers, or allergies.
• Trouble eating, sleeping, relaxing.

The signs are there and I recognize them, now what do I do?

• Stop and check in with yourself. Become aware of the signals you are receiving.
• Excuse yourself from the circumstance or situation and find a quiet corner.
• Exhale all the breath from your body and let your head, shoulders and stomach relax.
• Take a long, slow, deep breath and do this several times.
• On your exhale try saying to yourself, “In, I’m breathing in. Out, I’m breathing out.”
• Notice the minds casting about habit to find ways that it may make itself right. It may use tactics that include  saying things like this: “He was wrong and treated me with disrespect!” “That jackass cut me off. He’s going to kill someone!” “No one can treat me like this, I’m going to report that jerk!”
• Gently bring your attention back to your breathing.
• Repeat until calm and don’t give in to the minds demands.

A note:

This is not about pushing these feelings or emotions down, or to be in denial of your personal rights, freedoms etc. This is about calming the ego/mind before you respond using your emotions, rather than calm reason. This is about creating a platform for a proper response. The concept I’m presenting here is about not been run by the emotional outbursts that our ego may throw out there to defend itself. We are calming the mind in order to relax back into our natural state of being before we respond or act on impulse.

Just breathe…

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