Keep breathing.
Some thoughts on breathing. . .
Have
you ever noticed that when you pant really fast like a dog that your
heart starts to race? That your body hairs raise up? That is your system
pumping excessive adrenaline into your body, warning you of imminent
danger.
What are we supposed to do with this adrenaline?
The
adrenaline gives us mammals the energy to activate the 'fight or flight
' reflex. We need that energy to either climb the nearest tree or
attack that Sabre tooth tiger head on. But what if there IS no saber
tooth tiger? We turn that energy back on ourselves in the form of
tension. What is the best way to dissipate tension in the body?
BREATHE.
Now here comes the kicker!
Sometimes the body tries to get more oxygen by breathing through our non-existent gills.
"Our
GILLS?!!!", you say. Yes, when we are especially tense, we raise our
shoulders to try to open our gills that are directly activated by
cranial nerve number 11.
Except
we left our gills behind long ago when we crawled onto dry land. So,
we keep raising our shoulders over and over in the vain hope that more
oxygen will reach the body and help slow down the rate of release of
adrenaline.
Now we
are in an even bigger fix. Adrenaline is coursing through our body
randomly firing nerve endings AND our shoulders have become earrings.
What to do?
Breathe
deep, long, diaphragmatic breaths. Allow the belly to expand to make
room for the internal organs to scootch out of the way as the diaphragm
makes its excursion down into the abdominal cavity. Include your pelvic
floor in the breath by allowing it also to expand and contract.
Notice
that your heart rate is slowing down and a sense of calm is enveloping
you. Notice that your shoulders can tentatively lower themselves back
down towards your armpits. That is oxygen moving into your system to calm you down.
Keep breathing. 