The Breathing Breakthrough Everything You Need to Know to Sharpen Your Focus, Worry Less, and Live Longer By Bija Bennett Chicago, Illinois | United States of America [email protected] | www.bijab.com The Breathing Breakthrough ”The breath is You probably think you already know how to body. It can bring you strength and courage. It breathe. Isn’t breathing one of those things can calm you down. It can give you energy. It remarkable. that, under normal circumstances, you never can even lessen obsessive-compulsive, anxious, have to think about, like hearing or seeing? and attention-deficit states — which break you You can learn a lot from Yes, but it shouldn’t be. You can go through down — merely by letting some air rush in. your whole life and never give your breathing the breath. Breathing is an art. But you don’t need to another thought, and that’s why it might never be taught how to breathe to survive. You occur to you that you’re not breathing maximally It is profoundly wise” already know how to do that. Now it’s or getting the most out of your breath. time for your breathing to be liberated! Did you know that your breathing can release stress, maximize energy, strengthen Risking Stress immunity, increase circulation, improve We live in an age of terrifying speed and digestion, align posture, promote relaxation, haste. Everything we do is at high speed. We help you focus, reduce pain and fear, and even gobble our food down quickly. We’ve therefore, lead to a longer and healthier life? created all sorts of quick devices that let us save another fraction of a second. “Time is The breath is remarkable. You can learn a money” has become “speed is money.” But lot from the breath. It is profoundly wise. speed has consequences. And, racing around Every emotion, physical condition, resistance, rarely allows us to pause and consider what disturbance, or tension you have is connected we’re doing, where we want to go, and to your breath. Do you ever notice that you’re how we want to be when we get there. holding your breath? Remember what you do when you’re afraid, tense, or worrying about something? Or how you breathe when you feel happy? Or sad? Or when you’ve been sitting at your desk all day? Your breathing always carries a message. Your breath can be your best friend. It can be a tool to balance, release and free your mind and | www.bijab.com 2 From the moment we wake up we have One in ten smart phone users consider not eating when we’re hungry, which deadlines, frustrations, and demands. themselves “addicted” to their phones. Studies override our ability to recover. The result We’re pushed to engage, produce, and show that people, often students, are “not just is a combination of weight gain, sleep perform. Even managing our time isn’t unwilling, but are functionally unable to be deprivation, high blood pressure, a decrease much of a relief. Faced with an already without their media links to the world.” And, in brain function — all health markers related overburdened state, we still need the energy with the exception of those 50 and over, many to the lack of recovery, which, on a chronic it takes to stay mentally focused, physically individuals check text messages, email or basis, creates dire consequences. energized, and emotionally connected. their social network, “all the time” or every This is a serious problem because it means 15 minutes, a pathology we consider normal. What’s really driving us mad is our continuous that at some point we’ve probably damaged plugged-in state. While technology changes This correlates to performance in the workplace, our metabolism. Damage occurs by creating everything, it’s dangerous and delusional as multi-tasking, “cognitive overload,” and the more stress in the system than it can handle. to deny that our all-pervasive obsession accompanying effect of reduced efficiency, It happens when we allow our habits to with continuously being connected to forgetfulness, work errors, lost business, and physiologically break us down, and when our computer devices and cell phones sick time, all directly affect the bottom line. we let our nutrition, sleep, and lifestyle isn’t making us more anxious, stressed- habits interrupt our ability to recuperate. A study from The Energy Project, founded by out, depressed, sleep-deprived and When symptoms increase and we’re more author and performance expert Tony Schwartz, maybe even a little less self-aware. tired, stressed out, not as happy, or aging continues to demonstrate the data. In a 2008 faster than it seems we have before, The proof is starting to pile up. Towers Perin Global Workforce Study of it’s time to make significant changes. In his July, 2012 Newsweek article, 90,000 employees across 18 countries, only Tony Dokoupil, reported the hard facts: 20% of them, one out of every five, felt “fully engaged” at work. In other words, over ”We’re wired up, but • Internet addiction physically alters 40% were actively “dis-engaged.” The data our brains, in the areas of attention, we’re melting down” suggests that the challenges of stress, control and primary function. engagement, and recovery are the same for • Americans stare at a computer screen for an all corporate cultures, and that it doesn’t matter –Tony Schwartz average of eight hours a day. And teenagers who you are and where you are from, the stare at a screen, including time on iPhones, constant urgency and endless distractions are iPads, etc., around eleven hours each day. undermining our ability to perform at our best. • More than one-third of smart phone users As it turns out, “we’re wired up but we’re get online before getting out of bed. melting down,” says Schwartz. And it’s not getting any better faster. • An astounding six-figure number of texts per month we get are typical. Then, of course, we have habits that include continuous late night working, not getting enough sleep, drinking too much, and | www.bijab.com 3 Extreme as it may seem, unless we pay The solution Evidence-based research strongly shows attention to the degree of stress we take Balancing stress and recovering from it is that by adding mind-body and self-care in vs. the degree to which we rebuild, critical to managing your energy in all facets techniques, you can significantly create recover, and repair, we are killing ourselves of your life. When you recover your energy, an impact on a diverse range of health even faster. In truth, “our attention is under you nourish your system and fill it back up. responses — from energy, aging, brain and siege,” and now more than ever, we need Without it, you burn yourself out and eventually immune strength, to sleep, happiness, family, a full-blown recovery system with highly break down. But stress itself is not the enemy. intimacy, and even sex. New clinical trials specific routines that help us reduce stress It’s a stimulus that helps you to use up your on stress reduction demonstrate that people and manage our energy at every level. energy and then recover from it, so you get who adopt yoga-based, breathing-centered therapies considerably reduce their perceived Depending on the quality of our lifestyle habits stronger and stronger. Growing, in every part stress levels and improve their ability to and choices, the good news is we can rebuild of your life, requires you to skillfully manage respond to stress in a big way. This includes our metabolism and improve our health right both of these parts — the expending as well as improved quality of sleep, decreased now. But no matter what, says metabolism the recovering. Over time, this is what sustains anxiety and depression, regulation of pain expert and endocrinologist Diana Schwarzbein, your life and supports your growth. And it’s responses, reduced blood levels of stress M.D., “You have to find ways to manage your a discipline you must launch for yourself. hormones, improved cardiovascular function, stress, or you can never be fully healthy.” Ultimately, stress is personal. When facing and increased brain wave synchrony. the truth in dealing with your stress and the Evidence-Based Practices ability to respond to your stress, you’re going ”You have to find ways The facts to have to deal with the most fundamental Stress, in whatever form it takes, can trigger relationship you have — the relationship to manage your stress, the release of powerful hormones, which you have with yourself. And what’s more flood the brain engaging the “fight or flight” intimate to yourself than your breath? or you can never be response — changes your body goes through If you could feel more positive and mentally fully healthy” in response to stress. These changes may focused, have more fun, and renew manifest as increased heart rate, narrowing your energy so that you could engage –Diana Schwarzbein, of vision, muscle tension, and sweating. positively in every area of your life, including Common acute stress symptoms also include: relationships and work, simply by harnessing M.D. headaches, insomnia, hyperactivity, fatigue, the power of your breath, wouldn’t you? digestive issues, nervousness, anxiety, overeating, loss of enthusiasm, mood changes, irritability, depression — to name a few. | www.bijab.com 4 The Harvard Mental Health Letter also reports Says Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark our body, mind, and emotions are a part of encouraging results for people practicing T. Bertolini, “Stress can have a significant impact one integrated system, and when we influence yoga and breathing.