Are you Breathing?

I founded Breathe Holistic when I discovered that I was no longer breathing. I went from full-time self-employment to full-time “other-employment.” For 3 years, I worked 40 plus hours for someone else, and I stopped breathing. I chose to leave self-employment for health insurance and other benefits that come with working full-time for a more formal organization. I discovered that while I gained health insurance (at a very high cost!), I was sacrificing my health and my sanity. It took me quite some time to realize that I wasn’t breathing, but tension headaches, bodily tension, irritability, and general malaise were clues.   
I am a poet and an African drummer. I write poems and set them to drum rhythms. I coined the term “Drumetry” to describe this art form. My poems invariably come to me through something that needs to be transformed or healed within myself or for someone else, typically a client. Before I made the decision to leave my formal job, I received the title of a poem, and the poem seemed to write itself! It is called “Golden Handcuffs/40 Hours.” This piece of Drumetry speaks specifically to what I was experiencing and each time I share it, people tell me that it resonates deeply with them. I will share excerpts at a later time. Now, back to the breath.
Breath is life! If you are not breathing, you are not fully living. So why are we not breathing?
BARRIERS TO BREATH
STRESS!
We live in a fast-past, highly technological society that does not support breathing. We all seem to be in such a rush all of the time, and there is a tendency for us to feel inadequate or “not enough” when we are not constantly busy doing something . . . ANYTHING! Stress and breath cannot coexist. One is invariably sacrificed for the other . . . Choose breath!
IMAGE
While men may also sacrifice breath for image, this particularly for women, who were taught at very young ages to hold in our belly. We can walk around all day with our bellies sucked in, breathing from our chest instead of our diaphragm. We want to look a certain way, so we sacrifice breath to fit in that dress, so to speak. Deep breathing is impossible if the diaphragm is not engaged, if the belly is not relaxed. Your belly wants and needs to be a part of your body’s conversation; invite it in, and you invite in breath.
TIME
It is easy to convince ourselves that we do not have time to breath. We need to allow ourselves the time to consciously think about and focus on our breathing until it becomes an automatic, ingrained, and effortless. We had to learn how to breathe in a shallow way. Just think; babies don’t engage in shallow breathing. Invest time in learning proper breathing techniques. There are plenty of resources on the web and on YouTube for this type of exploration.
BENEFITS OF BREATH
Too many to mention, but I’ll name a few:

• Lowers blood pressure
• Improves digestion
• Reduces anger
• Slows the heart rate
• Oxygenates the blood
• Improves mood
• Increases blood flow to the muscles

Personally, when I am breathing fully, things don’t bother or frustrate me as much. I find that I can deal with and solve problems from a calm, centered place. Paradoxically, the slower my breath, the more energy I have. It’s as if I am tapping into a source of energy without giving up any.
I have made a conscious decision to BREATHE, to disconnect from that which I found to be draining me and return to what is live-giving. In returning to private practice, to self-employment, I am breathing again! I just feel better.
The purpose of this article is not to teach you how to breathe. There are tons of resources on the web that do that, and I want you to find the ones that resonate for you. My goal is to help you to remember to breathe, to breathe fully, fully acknowledging that this may require that you let go of some things in the process.

HAPPY BREATHING!! Need help?

www.breatheholisticcounseling.com