I want to talk about awareness and imagination as a gateway into self care and healing
There is not a single thing around you, man made which did not originate in someone's imagination.
There isn't a single thing you can do without it first manifesting in your imagination
Be it drinking a glass of water, eating a piece of fruit or
Building a house, meeting a friend, traveling somewhere, picking a flower or flying to the moon..
Imagination is a super power which can create amazing things out of thin air.
There is no limit to imagination, it can go anywhere, in space and in time, in size and scale,
So much incredible research is being done on the powers and capabilities of our imagination..
And there is so much more we can do with it
We can actually influence and change our state of mind using our imagination.
All meditations, all good stories utilize this incredible sense. Sending us on journeys into our own mind or through the mind of the teller to some other reality, creating in us altered emotional states .
The emotional and physical aspects are inseparable and mutually influential
This is a key to self healing, and self regulation
And we can use our imagination together with another function which is present and available to us at all time to create an immediate change in state of mind
And yes, we’re talking about breath.
Very simply put, Breath carries oxygen to each and every cell in our body. And although it enters through the lungs the movement of breath is an orchestration of our entire system.
Many different process which take place on physiological, molecular, atomic levels work together throughout our system for every exhale and inhale to occur
Lets have a quick look at the main players
The Diaphragms.. Yes there are more than one, who together with Our chest and pelvic cavity muscles create succion
Our heart.. Pumps the blood which is the distribution system of but not only of oxygen and CO2
All of this goes on automatically
But! We can also actively participate and influence the rate, depth and rhythm of our breath. In fact it’s the only automatic function we can consciously influence !
Now let’s have a quick look at the influencers on our breath and heart rate
Physical activity of course but also
Emotional states
Instinctive reaction to threat be it physical or social.
Don’t take my word on it,
Take a couple of days to observe what happens to your breath in different situations
What happens to your breath in stress, in rest, in joy, in concentration …
If nothing else it may teach you a thing or two about yourself..
So now let’s do a simple breathing technique to calm our nerves and relax.
lie down on our back and take a few breaths and do some imagining
We’ll start by exhaling completely
Now let the air flow in freely and once again exhale completely
Now