| |
|
It's time
to relax. |
| |
| It's
important that we be able to slow down those many thoughts
that go running around in our heads, seemingly out of
control. If something has happened that has upset
us, our thoughts about what has happened can bring us more
misery than the occurrence itself. |
|
|
| When
we focus on our breathing, we can strengthen our focus so
that those thoughts are pushed out of our minds.
We're not repressing or denying anything, just trying to
calm our thoughts. |
|
|
| When
we focus strongly on our breathing, we notice just how
much our lungs fill as we inhale very slowly and
steadily. We feel our torso expand with the breath
that is bringing us oxygen that keeps us alive. We
feel it flow through our nose and mouth, through our
throats, a river of life-giving air. We feel it go
deep into our bodies, all the way to our lower torso. |
|
|
| When
we get distracted or other thoughts start to enter our
minds, we bring our thoughts back to our breathing. |
|
|
| When
we hold our breath after inhaling, we feel the tension of
wanting to exhale, a pleasant tension that we know will be
relieved soon. As we hold it, we know that our lungs
are pulling even more oxygen from the air, giving us more
strength and more awareness. |
|
|
| When
we exhale slowly, we feel the relief of the positive
tension as the air flows out of our lungs, through our
throat, then out our mouth or nose. We can visualize
our negative tension or our fear or our anger flowing out
of our bodies upon the river of air, leaving behind it an
empty spot that we can fill with peaceful, positive
thoughts and energy. |
|
|
| If
we continue this for at least five minutes, we will find
that we've given ourselves a great gift at a very small
cost--for just five minutes of our time, we've made
ourselves feel more relaxed, more energetic, more ready
and willing to take on the tasks that the day has in store
for us. |
| |
|
next
page |
|
|
|
| |
|
