The American Psychological Association found that 38 percent of people say their stress increases during the holidays. Throw a global pandemic on top of that – worries about if family can be around one another, if it is safe to celebrate, are these symptoms just a typical cold or something more?…etc., and those feelings can quickly become overwhelming.
As adults, we need to relearn how to “breathe like a baby.” The natural and proper “art of the breath” doesn’t mean you want to become a baby again. You just want to acquire the full-body, Diaphragmatic breath through the nose – not only distributing healthy oxygen throughout the body, but also creating a state similar to meditation, which brings about the quietness of spirit, silence at the moment, and connects you to your true inner spirituality.
Your breath is a doorway to the increased presence of mind and feelings of aliveness, simplicity, and happiness. Breathing like a baby opens a connection with the Inner Mind to have a conversation with your own self. Most of the time, adults are in the over-full Outer Mind of conflicting influences and complex emotions. My book, The Simple Solution, is based on the principles of simplicity and understanding others as well as yourself.
The meditative state ideally brings total awareness, concentration, and attention to only one thing, such as the breath, which is called the object of awareness. This becomes an anchor in the sea of thoughts and feelings that are known as our consciousness. When we focus on our breath, our anchor, we let go of thoughts and sensations as we notice them, immediately returning to the breath.
By focusing the mind on just one object, the number of signals sent to our brains are greatly reduced, allowing the mind to settle into a deeply relaxed, yet highly alert state. The purpose of meditation is to allow you to spend as much of your life in the present moment and as mindful as possible, rather than worrying about the future or wanting to change the past. This keeps you on The Simple Solution path of the here and now. This leads to happiness and well-being.
