Power of the breath

It never ceases to amaze me how the OG breath practitioners from thousands of years ago in the Buddhist and Yogic traditions knew the power of the breath...and modern science and neuroscience just keeps on confirming it. Mindfulness of the breath and breathing practices aka pranayama are some of the most powerful tools we have access to- we just need to learn the skills to work with the breath. That's what I am up to lately - sharing lots of tools for working with the breath in simple meditation practices!

Our body breathes without us having to do a damn thing WHAT and yet we can change our breath and thus change our nervous system state WHAT and deactivate our default mode to break harmful thought loops WHAT WHAT WHAT.

Plus, it's portable - we can do it anywhere, no mat- no cushion-no equipment needed. There are ways to breathe to calm your nervous system state that no one can even tell you are doing (extended exhale, counting breaths). Others are noisier but pack a little more instant relief punch (sighing, humming, ujayyi/ocean breathing). We always have the option of using the breath as an onramp to mindfully self-regulating aka modulating our nervous system and mental state to one that is more appropriate for what's required in the moment.

A simple one breath practice

I did not include this one in my Mindfulness of the Breath short video series I just did (more on that in a min), it came to me as I was writing this but it is fantastic! It's an every day practice that is just ONE breath goes like this:

• Step 1: Notice when I’m getting flustered such as asking my dog where he put my keys, feeling pressured under a time crunch, or generally starting to spiral.
• Step 2: Pause. Like freezing when you hear “RED LIGHT” in Red Light, Green Light then I take one long, deep breath.
• Step 3: Allow whatever needs to happen next—just the NEXT thing—to reveal itself in my mind and body.
  “My keys are in my jacket pocket.”
  “I need to remember to grab that thing for my friend before I leave.”
  “I need to google what’s going on with my toilet tank instead of just making angry noises.”

Seriously give this One Deep Breath practice a shot and let me know how it goes!!

So- about my Week's Worth of Mindfulness of the Breath series of shorts (YouTube) and reels (Instagram). My intention was to a) give people micro breaks which we all need in this crazy world and b) share a bunch of beginner-friendly and simple mindfulness techniques so people have a higher chance of something they actually enjoy doing and do it more often. Do feel free to take some nibbles from that little meditation charcuterie board I put together! I gave myself permission to take last week off from writing a newsletter because my head was full of ideas for that and I couldn't think of anything to write about. So here we are now, and I had these thoughts I am sharing with y'all now to include this week!

Breath Practice Pro Tips

If you are just starting out your mindful breathing practice and want some beginner-friendly meditation tips, here you go:

Experiment! Not every practice is going to feel good all the time, or be appropriate. Although I do think it would be awesome if we normalized humming when we get stressed in meetings so whoever is the asshole creating the stress will have a nice verbal cue they are being a jerk.

Try it on! If you're thinking, ok I can give that a shot, or you are on the fence- try it on- you don't have to commit to the whole practice or even a whole minute, but stay with it for 3-5 breaths. Depending on our nervous system state, that could be coloring our receptivity to the practice.

Stick with what you like! The best kind of meditation is literally any meditation that we actually do. Since most breath based techniques work basically the same way (deactivating the default mode network, nudging our vagus nerve to bring on more parasympathetic activity) it mostly doesn't matter what kind of breath practice you do- it matters that you actually do it! And if you enjoy it, your brain will tag it as enjoyable so you actually want to do it again.

This week's practice video

In addition to the shorter ones already out there, I published a 13 minute guided meditation in which I invite you to explore three Mindfulness of the Breath practices: counting, physical sensations, and labelling inhale/exhale. The last technique was one of the original ones I did because I discovered Thich Nhat Hanh and read his book You Are Here: Discovering the Power of the Present back in 2021 and that was my gateway to studying and practicing Buddhism-based mindfulness in addition to the more basic techniques I had been using.

Stay with this one as long as you like, maybe warm up over a couple days with the shorter versions...I really set up a whole "choose your own adventure" situation for you to get after these breath practices, so it's up to you!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I do hope you've gleaned some nuggets from this one ✨

In deepest appreciation,

💕Carly

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter!! If you know anyone who would benefit, I would be delighted if you shared the love and passed it along 🙏

You can find me on YouTube and Instagram with my Military Yogini handle, I'd love to connect with you there!

I greatly appreciate any feedback, comments, or requests for practices/info. I've got a lot of knowledge and skills to share with people, so tell me what ya need and we'll see what I can do!! Simply respond to this email to send me your thoughts 😊