When I was eight years old, my Mother dropped sugar from our diet, became a vegetarian, adopted healthy eating and became a Yoga teacher. I remember doing Yoga poses (Asanas) with my Mother in the living room and being introduced to a worldly view of health and living; this was around 1970.
In 1980 I made my first trip to India, where I sought out and stayed at Ashrams (quiet retreat centres) and lived with Monks and Teachers. My early 20’s were dedicated to seeking answers to central questions about life and how we live it. But like the song by U2 says, I still haven’t found what i’m looking for.
What I did find, were ways of giving life more meaning and ways of centring and calming the mind. While I cannot write out the meaning of life in this article, I can say that one of the best calming and centring techniques available to us is through deep conscious breathing. Many breathing exercises have been handed down to us through time. They are proven, and benefit us on so many levels.
I have used simple breathing techniques and exercises to help me get through emotional hardship, through stressful situations and through sickness. The power of deep intentional breathing cannot be understated. From a basic Savitri technique, to box breathing, to advanced techniques like Bellows Breathing and the Ekadasi, they all have a great effect on our state of mind, our mood, our health, and brain performance!
Through the years I helped others through their life challenges with consultation, breathing exercises and my famous 10 minute Yoga routine. The breathing exercises always got a lot of attention because they are so easy to do. You can do them almost anywhere and I always emphasize how little time it takes. A FIVE minute breathing exercise has a very noticeable effect. Through the years, after much study and practice, I became the breathing coach.
At Elemental Living, we teach several of these exercises in an effort to help people find peace in their day, and balance in their life. Reducing anxiety and overwhelm is key in achieving the mental clarity needed for making better decisions. Making good decisions is a daily activity, so achieving a calmer and more balanced state of mind is also a daily necessity.
Not only are we are surrounded by the substance that keeps us alive; it is also the substance that can calm and focus our mind. It is filled with life force energy, and there are ways to tap into it, in a conscious and intentional way. At Brain Change Consulting we can help with perspective on that. There is so much healing in the air!
Breathe Deep My Friend,
Marcus Dupuis
BrainChangeConsulting.com – ElementalLiving.ca — The Breathing Course