Given the current state of the things around us on all dimensions, collectively and individually, we sensitives are feeling all kinds of things. But we are not a victim to what’s happening around us and within us. We are in charge here. And through neuroplasticity, meditation, self care, self mastery, prayer and bio hacking our nervous and endocrine systems, we can absolutely harness control of our own personal experiences. In fact, by doing so, we uplift those connected to us through our energetic vibrations. This morning I was gifted time by my boss. And so I chose to make the best use of that time and attempt to do just that, in an effort to counter the collective purgey, anxious ickiness. On my walking meditation, I was inspired to bring this old post back from the vault for all of you. If you are looking for a clue on how to navigate the things, here is one.
💖Z
♾
I can’t say enough good things about box breathing meditations.
In as little as five minutes, you can go from mental fog and anxiety, to giddy clarity.
I’m talking head spinning clarity and doing the damn jig in the lunch room after a 10 minute five count meditation on a break. (Literally did Jazz Hands🤗. Ask my colleagues)
Anytime you’re feeling like you’re mentally stagnant, anxious, stressed, overthinking or overwhelmed, a quick 5 minute fix of that sweet sweet slow O2 is enough to ground you and improve your mindfulness, productivity and inner peace.
1️⃣Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose to a count of four.
2️⃣Hold that in for a count of four.
3️⃣Exhale slowly from your mouth completely to a count of four.
4️⃣Hold that emptiness for a count of four.
Repeat for five minutes.
“Ok Z but how does this work?”
When you’re stressed, sick, emotionally taxed, tired, healing from trauma-you know, also like on this juicy awakening journey-your body’s autopilot system aka the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) kicks into Fight or Flight survival mode, taxing the adrenals, impacting your endocrine system in general, flooding the body with cortisol. This causes bloating, weakened immune systems, digestive disorders, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, hormonal issues, brain fog, headaches, inflammation, and chronic crankypantsedness. (I didn’t go to med school but I KNOW that’s gotta be a technical term)
A weakened endocrine system also negatively impacts the pineal gland, leaving it “calcified” and making intuition and faith much harder. This keeps one in a lower frequency of fear. So when facing challenges, one leans most quickly into fear rather than objectivity and faith.
Ever notice how really frazzled stressed out people get sick more often and freak out a lot in a panic fearing the worst?
This intentional box breathing technique helps to rewire your autonomic nervous system by signalling to the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) to calm the body the F down.
To clarify in my Z way: The SNS is the dude at the game that acts a fool and starts the brawl. The PNS is the level headed friend that calms everyone down and cleans up the mess. Together theses two caped crusaders 🦸🏻♂️ 🦸 make up your Autonomic Nervous System. (Ok maybe more like Good Cop Bad Cop 👮♀️ 👮)
When you engage more with your PNS, you can help your body repair a lot of the damage that just operating in stress and self harm has done. This helps you physically as well as mentally, emotionally & spiritually. You can’t exactly “awaken” when you’re in survival mode and your body’s just trying to cope. But when you’re mindful and intentional, that’s a whole other story.
Let’s also not forget that your heart is nestled between your two lungs. When you engage your breath in the fullness of each one, you’re basically hugging your own heart. Talk about depth.
“Ok but Z that’s a lot of big words and acronyms. It sounds so complicated!?”
It’s not as complex as the science behind it. Something that’s meant to “cure” your body’s stress responses shouldn’t be stressful. Because let’s be honest😅... but the synchronized breathing thing takes some patience to stick to.
So, you should know I never stick with anything. I’ve got so many ants in my pants, my middle name is literally Raid. So trying to stay focused and breathe like this for FIVE minutes felt like a huge commitment at first. 35 seconds into my first time I was like
“Yo that’s gotta be five minutes already! My timers gonna go any moment now” *peeks one eye open* “thirty five seconds??? Seriously?! I’m so over this, I’ve got things to do & I need a snack!” #tauruslife
But YouTube has some great guided meditations that help with the heavy lifting. I like the kind that give you cues audibly so you can shut your eyes and not worry about multitasking breathing, counting AND looking. Ain’t nobody got time fo that.
Now it’s become my mini vacay. A few times a day I crave this moment of solitude and connecting with my breath. And it’s no big deal to bang out 5 or 10 minutes of stillness. And I always feel so energized after. My sleep, work, decision making, intuition, temperament, anxiety, digestion, outlook on life, self esteem and overall looks are different. There’s no more need to stress eat. It’s like all the things I did to cope seem unnecessary now. And I still eat carbs🤗!
If you have time to mindlessly scroll the socials, you have time to do this for yourself too.
I’ll link a channel I love but am not connected to. Try a 4 count five minute cycle and see what how you feel. Work your way up to five or six counts and longer times as you’re guided to.
Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFQIvO2grfWkWa5E5E-jH7KiiPmVk1tjN
Tell me your thoughts. Have you done this? How did it feel?
💖Z
Originally written January 7th, 2021