Subject: A Few Minutes For Your Body and Mind Series: Yoga Breathing
Tags: work-at-home-mums work-from-home-business justine-simard
Blog Entry: Have you ever given up on an activity such as meditation or yoga because you don't have the time? For busy work at home mums, taking an hour to do meditation, pilates, yoga, relaxation techniques or mind training is often a luxury that we simply cannot afford to do on a daily basis. Have you ever considered doing some of these exercises daily but only for a FEW MINUTES? You would be surprised at the new flow of energy and mind power that can result from just those few minutes of self-awareness, meditation, relaxation or mind coaching. The life of work at home mums is filled with schedules, stress, noise, demands, multi-tasking, physical work, travel and altruism. How often do you actually channel back into yourself, become aware of your body and mind, and create new energy which comes out from within? Personally, the only way I used to become aware of my body was when it was aching, and creating new energy meant drinking more coffee! I have however been trialling a few different methods and have discovered that not only I can use some techniques in just a few minutes every day, but they also create instant results in reducing stress, increasing energy levels, focusing my mind, empowering my spirit, and improving my mood. That sounds good doesn't it? I'd like to introduce a few different techniques that I completely recommend for work at home mums. Best of all, the techniques I will discuss can be done in short sessions. Of course, if you really enjoy them and feel committed to becoming a master at using them, there is plenty to learn and develop in each of those. I'll cover the first technique in this article. A Few Minutes For Your Body and Mind Series: Technique 1: Yoga Breathing. Yoga breathing is best done lying down with your hands resting slightly apart just underneath your diaphragm, but can also be done sitting down with a straight spine, crossed legs, relaxed shoulders and arms resting on your knees, hands facing up. Step 1: Abdominal breathing: Observe your natural breath and notice how your abdomen moves in and out with your breath. Then start to deepen, lengthen and extend the movement with every inhalation and exhalation. Fill and empty your abdomen completely with each breath, without straining. For 10 breaths, do not breathe into your chest, limit the movement to the abdomen, and then take a few seconds rest. Step 2: Thoracic (chest) breathing: Observe again your normal breath but this time notice how your chest is moving. Then begin to deepen, lengthen and extend the movement. Fill your lungs completely on inhalation, then exhale and let your lungs collapse fully, sinking to the lowest point. For 10 breaths, keep the abdomen still, and move only the chest. Step 3: Full yogic breathing: Combine abdominal and chest breathing in the one breath as follow: Inhale deeply into the abdomen, and then continue inhaling up and expanding to fill the chest. Hold it for a second or so. Then exhale first from the top of the chest down, emptying the air out of the chest first, then the abdomen, moving the air down and out until completely empty. Repeat this abdomen-to-chest inhalation and chest-to-abdomen exhalation, like a rolling motion, for 20 breaths. I like to lay there for a couple of minutes afterwards, just returning to my normal breath and enjoying my relaxed mind and body. I hope you enjoy this simple yet renewing exercise as much as I do, which is perfect for work at home mums: it requires no equipment and takes only a few minutes! Stay-tuned for my upcoming articles in this series with more quick and simple body and mind rejuvenating techniques. Justine Simard is a Mum and Home Business Coach and Mentor. To find out more about an opportunity to work from home around your kids, start your own business, and achieve a better lifestyle, higher income and more freedom, visit me at Work At Home Mums .
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