I wrote last week about the thinking mind and how we have on average 60,000 thoughts a day – 90% of which are useless and repetitive.
As all these thoughts are energy that is a lot of energy needlessly being wasted? If you focus your mind on your breath (breathing process form your nostrils down to your stomach and back again) the breath in turn acts as an anchor to the thinking mind just like an anchor acts as a source to steadfasten an otherwise restless ship.
This process is known as mindfulness and is an ancient practice which was introduced to the Western world by a man called Jon- Kabat-Zinn.
In other words we become aware (conscious) of our breath which helps to steady our random unaware (unconscious) thinking mind.
I’m not so sure this practice is absolutely new as when I was a child my mother used to say “Roger be mindful” in other words to be aware of and to watch what I was doing. Jon- Kabat –Zinn introduced it as a formal practice.
In our normal everyday living, we breathe too shallowly and too quickly. This in turn sends subtle but definite messages to the body that all is not well and that we have something to be anxious about.
Of course as we are so busy with our everyday lives and problems we are usually totally unaware (unconscious) that this is going on.
This is what I mean by unconscious everyday living which can result in great stress to the body and the body organs which are unfortunately unable to tell if the reason for the anxiety (stress) is real or not.
In the vast majority of cases, the cause of the stress is not real which results in us living very stressed lives when it can be totally avoided with the practice of a little awareness. As Ripley says “Believe it or not”.
Of course the obvious reason for the breath is the transmission of air and thus oxygen to the body but it has another great function which many people are not aware of.
The breath is a porthole into the present or what we call the ‘Now’. A porthole is a passageway or means of connection between one area and another.
The breath is a porthole for connecting the mind with the energies of our body and is a brilliant and ever accessible means to do that.
Why is it brilliant? Because it is always and ever available. What was the first thing you did when you were born? “Breathe”.
What is the last thing you will do when you die? “Breathe” We take our last breath!! It is a constant accessible companion which is truly underestimated, undervalued and underused.
It connects us with the ‘Now’ simply because we can only breathe in the ‘Now’
Have you ever managed to breath for yesterday or even as a matter of fact for one minute ago ? Have you ever managed to breathe for tomorrow or even for one minute in advance of now?
No we can only breathe in the present and that is why the breath is such an effective porthole into the present moment. It connects us with consciousness.
Next week I am going to write about why we should ‘Come to our senses’.
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
Enjoying reading Roger Harty’s article every Thursday. Informative and helpful. Had the pleasure of meeting Roger and his lovely wife Brid in Sheen Falls in Kenmare a few weeks back, had a good chat and have found what he had to say very helpful ever since. But still learning.
Kind regards,
Marguerite Kavanagh