Breath work

Over the last few months I have been recuperating, regenerating, doing introspective work on healing, and finding space to heal body, spirit and mind. This time has been a gift of learning. Time to breathe deeply of life.

I have experimented with breath work. Breathing deeply, slowly and inhaling joy. Inhaling the beauty of life, of nature and of relationships. Often we forget to breathe, we do it unconsciously and just enough to keep us racing through life getting our tasks and work done.

I actually had forgotten to breathe and found myself holding my breath sometimes, almost afraid. The air inside was stagnant and holding me down. Releasing the breath and working towards a "breathing easy" approach is taking a focused concentration. Perhaps in our busy lives we our actually running out of breath.

Breathing life into our work is an interesting concept. How does one do this? How do we use our leadership to ensure work is alive, is "breathing" fully with the rhythm of life. How do we know that our work both sustains us and is right for us.

Check your breath when you are at work, when you are at home, when you are in nature. When you have joy your breath is natural and deep. When you have tension and stress it is shallow and hesitant. Try integrating your deep natural breath into places in your life where it is not. It will help heal your response to those situations. When we authentically lead ourselves and give ourselves time to take a breath before responding it sends oxygen to our brain so we can think more clearly.