• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Peaceful Easy Healing

Enhance Your Health & Well Being

  • Home
  • About Joan
    • Testimonials
  • Simple Tools
  • Life/Wellness Coaching
  • Reiki/Healing Services
    • Reiki
    • Healing for Pets
    • Aromatherapy
    • Releasing Trapped Emotions
  • Classes/Workshops
    • Calendar
    • Reiki Classes
    • Classes For All
      • Aromatherapy… The Nose Knows
      • Creating a Happier, Healthier You Series
      • Energy & YOU…
      • Just B R E A T H E Meditation Introduction
      • ‘Just B-R-E-A-T-H-E’ Meditation Workshop
      • LIFE LESSONS 101
      • Mind-Body Connection Class
      • Mind-Body Connection Series
      • TaiChiEZ
      • WORK-LIFE BALANCE…
    • Classes for Senior Communities
      • Professional Caregivers Workshops
      • Positivities
      • Vision Boarding
      • TaiChiEZ
    • Caregivers Workshops
      • “Just B-R-E-A-T-H-E” Workshops
      • Looking Stress in the Eye and Saying “NO MORE!!”
  • Contact

05/11/2020 By Joan Marlow

Life Lesson 4: Just B-R-E-A-T-H-E . . . .

JUST BREATHE

You read the title, now do it!!  ‘Just B-R-E-A-T-H-E!’ 

No, not just one breath…take at least 3 breaths… 

How about 3 slow, deep belly breaths in and long slow exhales out. 

Close your eyes and ‘just notice.’

Return to your normal breath.

WHAT DID YOU NOTICE???

Did your shoulders relax (sometimes referred to as ‘lowering your shoulder earrings’)?  Did your jaw relax?  Did your hands unclench?  Did you have to shake your head a bit to bring yourself back to your ‘normal’ awareness?  Did you find yourself smiling?  If these sensations are new or foreign to you, it’s called ‘relaxation!!’ 

In that less than 30-second exercise in ‘mindfulness,’ you reset your autonomic nervous system to a ‘rest and digest mode’ vs. ‘alert’ mode.  Alert mode in essence is fight, flight, freeze mode, during which your adrenals switch from sending ‘feel good’ hormones like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin to sending ‘alert’ hormones like cortisol and adrenaline into our body to ‘protect’ you.  Protect you from what you might ask?  Protect you from ‘real’ or ‘imaginary’ threats to your safety. 

Many of our days find us running on ‘auto-pilot,’ which is excellent if we had to deal with saber-tooth tigers around every corner.  Not sure when any of us last faced a ‘real’ saber-tooth tiger vs our countless ‘imaginary’ tigers like oversleeping and having to start our day in a rush, getting stuck in traffic, over-committing, facing a hungry family because you forgot to defrost something for dinner, facing a performance review, and the like. 

Our bodies don’t know the difference unless we engage our consciousness to shut out the ‘imaginary’ tigers which in turn shuts down the ‘alert’ hormones, and replaces them with ‘calming, feel-good’ hormones calming hormones.  AHHHH…doesn’t that feel better?

‘CONSCIOUSLY’ BREATHING

One way we can do that is through ‘consciously’ breathing for a few minutes a couple of times a day. 

The act of breathing is on auto-pilot, as is our digestive, nervous, circulatory, and other bodily systems that bring us life.  Our body blueprint has made it easy for us to live.  However, the great minds in medicine tell us that living involves stress and stress is causing ‘dis-ease’ (disease or imbalance) in our bodies.  The ‘dis-ease’ manifests itself in the form of an ulcer, suppressed immune system, habits that over time don’t serve us well (over-eating or drinking, sleeping too much or too little), angry outbursts, etc.

By ‘consciously’ breathing we engage our brain to focus on the act (and art) of breathing.  This focused action is very healthful and helpful to our overall well-being in that moment to calm and relax us, reset our attitude, and even help us sleep,   It also supports the growth of new brain cells (neuroplasticity) for long-term positive brain health. 

Our brain is designed to always be ‘doing/thinking’ something.

If you’re thinking negatively about yourself or someone else, once you realize that you’re doing that, ‘STOP’ and ‘Just BREATHE consciously’ for a couple of breaths to reset your brain.

PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT

Now let’s bring the 4 Life Lessons to life.  Consider putting 3 elastic bands on one wrist.  Each time you go through the steps of stopping to observe, resetting your brain to positive, taking a conscious breath to reset, acknowledging this positive action and continuing with your day, move an elastic band to the other wrist.  Voila.  At the end of the day, smile because you’re well on your way to creating a habit to de-stress and take charge of your life, health and well-being because the 3 elastic bands will be on the other wrist, which is the goal.

Let me know how implementing the 4 Life Lessons has supported you.

Namaste,

Joan

Filed Under: Life Lessons 101, Simple Tools

Primary Sidebar

Reiki & Coaching for Stress and Focus

Thanks so much for being in my corner.  Since I had no interest or energy when I showed up at your office and I left with all the energy you could possibly pour into me, I would say a lot of it has to do with you!!  Thank you so... ....READ MORE

Reiki & Corporate Training…Changed, Engage, Inspired

I have engaged with Joan Marlow as my Reiki Practitioner, Educator, and have had her teach Interpersonal Emotional Intelligence to my leadership group.  Joan is masterful at creating an environment to meet both the individual and group exactly where you are. Her energy rises and falls to fulfill what is... ....READ MORE

Coaching Supporting Life Changes

I have a rescue plant, his name is Cincinnati Jake. When I was referred to Joan 6 years ago, my plant, Jake, was all I could responsibly take care of. Even though I had made some major life changes the prior year and was walking on a sober path, I... ....READ MORE

‘Spiritual Coach’ for Life

I was first introduced to Joan about 8 years ago and it has come to be one of the most important connections I have ever made. She is my "Head Spiritual Coach" for life. Through both Reiki and one-on-one coaching, Joan has helped me unlock so much potential in my... ....READ MORE

Coaching – Supporting Focus

I just want to start this morning by telling you how grateful I am for you and I appreciate your investment in me.   Bob, Coaching client 

Reiki for Back Pain, Stress, Calm, Peacefulness

My Reiki sessions with Joan have been so productive. We've lowered back pain. We've lowered stress levels. We have increased the levels of calm and peacefulness. Pamela

Welcome to Peacefinding Tools

Self-care activities to bring peace and calm into your life in 60-seconds or less.

Self-care is important for each of us as we do our work and live our lives.  Even though we might not carry the title of family or professional caregiver, it’s part of our human blueprint to ‘care for others.’ 

Peacefinding Tools are 9 self-care exercises designed to calm your body, mind and spirit to help you relax, rejuvenate, renew anywhere, anytime; the best part is each ‘practice’ takes 60 seconds or less.  What’s more, you don’t have to purchase equipment, go anywhere special, dress a certain way, dedicate an hour; all you need to do is make a ‘conscious’ choice to take action.  I invite you to find a ‘practice’ that works for you and then use the ‘practice’(s) once a day, or as many times as necessary to have it become the 1st thing you do when you feel stress,  anxiety, overwhelm or are having a bad day. 

Peacefinding Tools bringing calm to your life can be yours now by requesting this ebook.

Categories

  • Coaching
  • General
  • Life Lessons 101
  • Reiki
  • Simple Tools
  • Testimonials

Footer

Contact

Click to Email
Call: 480-223-8899

About

I’m Joan Marlow and my passion is to provide ways to enhance your health and well-being so you can live your best possible life.

Connect

© Copyright 2017-2020 Peaceful Easy Healing · All Rights Reserved