Your life is busy—frantic, even.  You have many demands on your time.  You don’t know how you are going to get through it all.  We’ve all been there.  We look for ways to cope with this feeling.  One great way is to practice intentional breathing. 

Breathing deeply doesn’t only oxygenate our body and mind, it gives us life force energy, called prana.  You can use your breath to become very present, even during a busy day.  This is important to living a mindful and conscious life.  If you are present and aware, even when you are busy, it helps you get a good perspective on your life and remember that all of life’s dramas are temporary.   You can even learn to enjoy the drama, rather than be stressed out by it.

Breathe deeply and take moments during every day to reflect and enjoy what you have, whether it seems positive or negative.  Our day-to-day events fluctuate between what we interpret to be “good,” or “bad,” and the good news is that we have the power to decide how we interpret them.  You can change the way you interpret life with pranayama, or breath control.  Deep breathing slows down your reactive thoughts and feelings to a situation.  When you breathe very slowly and deeply, it also changes your mood and calms you down.  It takes you out of the “fight or flight” response and puts you into the “rest and digest” mode.  It causes you to switch from left-brain dominant, detail-oriented thinking (the little picture) to right-brain dominant, big picture thinking. 

Getting the big picture helps you put your situation into perspective, no matter what it is.  If you are stressed out about something, and begin to deeply breathe and calm yourself down, you can see above the immediate situation and instead understand how what you are doing fits into your life as a whole.  Calming yourself down also helps you realize that things work out in the long run, even if they seem not to in the short-term.  Having this perspective also gives you an opportunity to see your goal clearly and then get an idea of the steps that are needed to get you there.

When you are stressed, do this exercise:

1)     Notice when you are stressed.  Stop and give yourself a few minutes to shift your energy.

2)     Take 10 deep breaths and stand or sit tall.  Allow your body to relax.

3)     Really feel your breath as it enters your body.  Visualize it being full of positive life force energy that blesses and energizes everything it touches.

4)     Imagine that your breath enters and blesses your nose, your windpipe, your lungs, and through your lungs to your blood; which moves from your lungs to your heart, and moves through your entire body.

5)     Imagine your entire body being blessed by positive energy.  This energy gives you clarity, creative ideas for problem-solving, and freedom to make a variety of choices.  Notice how much more relaxed, open and wonderful you feel!  Notice any ideas that pop into your head on how to solve your problem.  More often than not, you will simply realize that all is well and that everything will work out just fine.

6)     Come back to normal awareness and continue to go about your day!

Using breath this way causes you to cleanse and purify your body’s energy in a powerful way.  You are raising your vibrational frequencies, releasing energetic blockages in your chakras, meridians and nadis, and opening yourself up to more physical and spiritual vitality.  Your breath truly is a gift.  You have access to it every single day.  When you think of it as a nurturing source of positive energy, you allow yourself to be filled with great energy any time you like.  All you have to do is breathe.