Using the Body to Strengthen the Mind Part 2

The Importance of Breath
The most vulnerable portion of the “Flow State” triad (breath, movement, structure) is breathing.

Proper breathing is degraded by stress before you can detect it in posture or muscle tension. This is one of the reasons breath control is addressed in most religions and spiritual disciplines, whether this is through pranayama (yoga), exercise, hymns, ritual prayers, dance, or sacred postures.

Utilize the Power of Total Concentration
A good yoga teacher, for instance, will place the student in a posture sufficiently extreme to force total concentration. When the student learns to relax and focus, that posture becomes relatively easy, and a more extreme posture is given.

The point is to teach the student to monitor their own internal process. Fine martial arts or breathing meditation teachers use similar techniques.

The student learns to recognize the early signs of strain, and to dissipate them. NOTHING in life creates more stress than lack of oxygen, and learning to remain calm in the midst of oxygen debt will teach you to remain calm when the children are screaming, when your boss is on the rampage, when someone cuts you off on the freeway.

Or when you have a writing deadline, or when insecurity and fear hammers at the door of your resolve.

Create Centredness and Achieve Excellence
Deliberately practicing a physical discipline to enhance this quality of calmness and centeredness, while simultaneously working toward goals balanced in body, mind, and spirit, exposes you to the currents of life while helping you develop the skills and strategies necessary to excel.

This, over time, leads to excellence, even in a purely mental arena.

Remember: proper breathing under stress is a key to reaching your maximum potential as a mental, spiritual, and emotional being. Seek one of these techniques out and integrate it into your life. It's one of the best investments you could ever make in your future.

Love life and live it creatively and on purpose!

Leanne
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