How often do you actually think about your breathing? I used to only think about it when I had a cold and my nose was blocked, or when I was panting and out of breath from exercise (yes I did used to do a lot of exercise I promise! ☺ ). When we breathe in, we are not just breathing in air, we are also breathing in fresh energy and, likewise, when we breathe out we are not just breathing out used air we are also breathing out stale energy. With breath and intention we can take in whatever qualities we need, and let go of things we no longer need.

Here’s an exercise for you, place your hands on your stomach and see whether they rise up and go down as you breathe in and out. For many people this will not be the case as there is a tendency to breath mainly into the chest. Did you know that can cause feelings of anxiousness and inhibit being centred within one’s self. If you were breathing down into your stomach – good for you! If not, don’t be hard on yourself, just focus on bringing the air down into your stomach on the next breath – push your stomach out if necessary to get the feeling of it. It will feel quite strange at first but, with practise, it can become perfectly natural to breath this deeply.

When we breathe properly we don’t need to take as many breaths and our bodies don’t work as hard as they do if we’re breathing more quickly just into our chest. This is better for us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as it means we are making proper use of our bodies and breathing in all the fresh energy that we need throughout the day and night.

Now why am I going on about breathing you might ask. Let me take you back to my first question “How often do you think about your breathing?”. Whether you breathe properly or not, do you think about your breathing? Focusing upon it at points during the day can bring tremendous results and a wonderful feeling of being centred. When we focus upon our breathing everything else loses importance. It brings us back to the moment in hand. Not fretting about the future or worrying about the past. Right here, right now, all that we focus on is our breathing. Nothing else matters.

So often we take breathing for granted because it’s an autonomic function of the body. We can’t live without breathing and without breathing air. We also cannot live without bringing in fresh energy with each inhalation. The Hawaian's refer to it as "Ha. The Breath of Life" Which makes perfect sense to me.

Throughout the day, try to get into the habit of taking mini breaks (only a minute or two is necessary) just to focus upon your breathing. Notice how deeply you are breathing, the sound as the air passes through your nostrils (or mouth), the rise and fall of your stomach (or your chest if you’re not breathing deeply). Change your breath, change your life.