Your Secret Power: Breathing

That persistence to escape my reality. Perhaps powerless to change it? Of course, I wouldn't be so inclined if I felt content where I stood. The daily grind. All stuck up in my mind. Where can I go to flee this incessant barrage of my thoughts? Well, don't be silly... My mind of course! OH! the boundlessness of imagination. To drift away into a construct of my own design. A duality is constantly in motion. Taking turns with my psyche.

What will it be today? Perhaps we will go on a voyage in deep space. Yes. I like that one. Where does it begin? I am all alone. I perk myself up in my dimly lit cockpit. Take a good look around. What do you see? The blackest midnight of them all, with specks of light dotting the wall. The navigation monitor buzzes in front of me. It eagerly awaits my command. What are you doing with your life? My mind torpedoes my way. I'd rather not deal with that right now.

Anyways, back to the fantasy. A nebula. Flaunting a royal purple, and glistening with a pink flair. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. "Computer." I proclaim. I would like to go there! The monitor lights up as it zooms in on this cosmic art form. What's the point of all this? The thought strikes me like lightning. Can we not deal with this right now?

Reality tends to seep in, like dark tendrils creeping under my door. Binding me and mercilessly dragging me back to Earth. The woes of an uneasy mind. Oh but not all is lost! A creature springs out of the brush! Well, not really a creature, and there is no brush. It is a technique! A-ha! You didn't expect that now did you? A way of conscious breathwork mixed in with some meditation. I know I can already feel the excitement building within you, but you have got to calm down so I can explain this!

This technique is so powerful the first time I did it I cried. For some context, this technique was developed by a man by the name of Wim Hof. He has set records for the longest swim in ice water, and a marathon barefoot on ice and snow. Talk about being ice cold! How did he go about setting these superhuman records? Well by his account the breathing method he developed allows him to control how his body reacts to such overbearing and extreme conditions.

To become aware of the connection between your body and mind is what we should all strive to achieve in our daily lives. Not only will this help you become more relaxed in your day-to-day interactions with others, but your thoughts will be expressed with a lot more lucidity than before. I like to think of it as spiritual labor in a sense. Now, let us get down and dirty in the BEEF of this exercise.

You should begin by sitting down or lying down on your back in the most comfortable position possible. Although I prefer the former because it allows you to really get your whole body into moving with the breathwork. You begin with taking a full inhale, then just let your lungs deflate naturally. Really get passionate about it. Be aggressive. Oxygen is in no short supply. Do that for about 15-30 sets depending on how much time you want to dedicate.

Here's the magic. On your last exhale, stop. Feel your body. Focus on the beating of your heart. Try to slow it down. Whatever you may be feeling is completely natural. Feel. Let your body do what it is capable of doing. Just allow yourself to exist in your space, and feel that inner peace.

Like I said before, this was so powerful when I did it on Youtube with Wim Hof I cried. I think it came down to the acceptance of my own mortality at that moment that hit so hard. Ah, and it feels so much better to have a clear mind. For now at least.