My class theme this week has been Totally Tapas.  I created a flow that focused, quite literally, on heat.  The heat we create physically AND mentally. I felt it was appropriate after talking with someone about her journey with anxiety.  

I think the most important thing I've ever shared with my students and clients is that we don't lose our anxious tendencies overnight. We weren't born anxious.  We didn't come into this world with OCD and phobias.  It took time for us to create them through our perceptions and experiences.  The same is true for us to heal from anxiety.  It takes time.  There are so many times I see people have monumental breakthroughs, only to feel they are "cured" and then they slide right back into old patterns- which in turn cause the same anxieties to arise.  I know it gets frustrating when we find relief through yoga, breathing, EFT, etc. and it doesn't stick around that long.  Healing from anxiety is literally a practice, just like yoga.  There's no such thing as a "cure" because anxiety is an emotion. Just like happiness and anger.  We don't just eliminate it.  We learn how to work through it.  Similar to when we step on the mat in yoga.  Perhaps you're being challenged with a tough sequence full of poses that you struggle through.  You don't just step off your mat and leave, right?  At least I hope you don't!  You find a way to make the pose work for you!  Maybe you modify it or even just sit it out and take a child's pose.  Whatever it is, you figure it out.  And you go back again the next day, or the day after that. You keep working, practicing, and opening up new experiences.  I remember when I used to find headstand traumatizingly scary!  Now I love it!  It took patience, perserverence and commitment to get to that place.  Same with anxiety.  We will constantly be challenged along the way.  We just have to remember to stick through it and find a way to cope.  

So a tapas themed practice really called to my soul this week.  Tapas is the Sanskrit word for heat.  In yogic philosophy it is the fire that burns within us.  It is our self control, our focus, our drive, our discipline.  It is the discipline that we need to obtain a goal when we are faced with struggles along the way.  

So tap into your Tapas this week.  Identify your challenges and open up the space within you to have the discipline and mindfulness to keep pushing through.  Whether kicking into handstand or conquering a fear, you have the power within you to make it through! 

xo b


photo cred
https://www.google.com/search?q=handstand&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uSqAUe-WHqaT0QGgnYDQDg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#imgrc=BynKu219vE0doM%3A%3BGnUIE-hqXBinFM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.yogirose.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2010%252F07%252Fhandstand.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.yogirose.com%252F%253Fp%253D30%3B333%3B500

Have you ever stopped to wonder where your breath goes after your inhale?  Do you take short breaths?  Long breaths?  Are they even breaths?  Do you ever think about your breath?  I never used to.  I never realized how powerfully connected our breath is to our anxiety.  When we're anxious, we take short, rapid breaths.  These breaths usually reside in our chests.  When we engage in belly breathing, we can stop almost any panic attack in its tracks- it's that powerful!  

So, how do we belly breathe?  I'm glad you asked!

Belly Breathing

I wanted to start with this because, while there are more advanced breathing practices, they don't do us a lot of good if we aren't already engaging in diaphragmatic breathing.

Why belly breathing?
Deep breaths are proven to stop almost all panic attacks and immediately reduce anxiety! And you can do it anywhere! 

How to belly breathe:
-start lying down (it's easiest to feel here)
-Place one palm on your chest and one on your belly, slightly below the belly button 
-take one breath in and focus on taking that inhale into the palm on your belly. Try to have your inhale lift that hand
-try to keep the hand on the chest relatively still. It will move, but the hand on the belly is really where we are breathing into
-continue this deep belly breathing until it feels comfortable, take it literally one breath at a time!
-when you find a good flow to the breath, count the length of your inhale. Then aim to match your exhale to that length 
-this practice is called equal breathing! it is a grounding and stabilizing breath. (*there is another breath to add on here to ease anxiety, but it's important to start from this grounded state) 
-once you get the hang of it, try it sitting up or standing. Hand to belly! Breathe into that palm! 

Tips:
*inhale/exhale through your nose
*this breath may feel odd and slow at first. If you feel lightheaded or like you aren't getting enough air (which you are! Don't worry) stop the breath and return to it at a later time. 
*work your way up to 2-5mins of practicing this breath a day 
*eventually this breath will become the normal breathing pattern and you'll be more aware of panic/chest breathing and be able to return it to the belly quickly!

Try this breath on for size and start to watch your stress melt away!  I like to practice my belly breathing in the AM right before I get out of bed and right before I fall asleep at night.  The more you practice, the more natural this will feel!  So get breathing! 

xo b







image cred: https://www.google.com/search?q=belly+breathing&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=QhVoUeKzEo-o4APv4IGIAw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#imgrc=DYEnZsKLF1v-NM%3A%3BPuBuuE2Oks2OGM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.puddlesandriversyoga.com.au%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F10%252FIMG_1695.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.puddlesandriversyoga.com.au%252Fchest-breath-belly-breath%252F%3B1936%3B1936