Create Breathing Room

Creating a life with breathing room is a worthy pursuit.

One which we have been working on daily at Sagrada this week.

Most physicians I know hold their breath - much of the time. When they breathe they breathe shallowly and with a short exhale.

When we do breathe we fill about 30% of our lung volumes if that.

We rarely fill our lungs fully with oxygen.

We are encouraged in American society to move through our lives and our days quickly- and on autopilot.

Our lives do not include pauses to intentionally take deep breaths and make conscious choices.

We react and move forward, on autopilot.

For 22+ years, I lived a “full” life - with 3 kids, a husband, a dog, physician leadership, patient care, travel, extended family, and ….

I was always busy, reacting and living on autopilot.

My life had a lot of beauty and meaning AND it had no "breathing room."

Living a life with no breathing room has a cost. A high cost.

Hold your breath and notice how you feel.

Tight, stressed, starved, needing, tired, irritable, and reactive.

As a coach and yoga teacher, I teach people to breathe again.

To remember to take deep breaths and to intentionally create breathing room in their lives.

“Breathing room” is created by remembering to breathe, and doing so.

It is also created by intentionally choosing to change your thoughts.

The last piece is by making changes in your life.

All three are usually needed.

It works best when they are in this order.

Creating breathing room in your life takes reflection, curiosity, and intentional decluttering.

It takes deep listening and purposeful action.

During yoga teacher training noticed how many people around me held their breath and breathed very shallowly most of the time.

Many, many people are too stressed to take a deep breath. They have no physiologic and/or emotional space t do so.

In yoga, the breath is prana - literally our life force.

It shifts energy and oxygen and carbon dioxide and nourishes and heals cells.

It is powerful medicine.