Yes Boston, for today it’s rain and for tomorrow….sun! There is a little story behind this clip. Annie has always been my favorite musical. I actually was Annie in a rendition of the musical at my elementary school. That was before my hair was auburn and while I still had the not so great singing voice I am presently stuck with but Annie I was. The arts have always been something that helped me to see the sunny side of life. Dance, music, any visual art actually has always brought life to a grey and rainy mood. This song, while just a song in a kids musical, has a profound message embedded within that mess of curly red hair. How do we adults, recapture what it is that children seem to be able to access so simply? How do we realize, in a moment of panic, that the sun always comes out tomorrow? GOOD QUESTION! Let’s see if we can break it down simply.
A lot of people have become used to seeing medications as a knee jerk reaction to treating symptoms as they arise. Some medications that are prescribed for anxiety cause physical dependence and at times, addiction. They are a very slippery slope and many Americans indulge regularly. But the breath…well that’s always there and non addictive. It’s like your best friend who supports you unconditionally no matter what. The key to that friendship is that you need to call that person right?? Well learning how to access your breath in a calming way is key when life hits you upside the head. It’s like the title of Jon Kabat Zinn’s famous book on mindfulness “Wherever you go, there you are.” You wake up, go outside and boom there’s a ticket on your car, or you are having a stressful day and someone cuts you off causing an accident and the list goes on and on. You know those moments. The ones that make you say Hmmmm or maybe more like “WTF!” Well in those moments, your breath is there just waiting for you to pay attention and help direct it to calm your nervous system. See during the WTF moments, the fight/flight response gets activated as the sympathetic nervous system is turned on. The fight/flight or stress response in the body helps activate us when there is a crisis going on. We have this response in common with animals in the wild kingdom but those guys only get activated when there is impending doom. Our bodies get activated with fight/flight when we psychologically PERCEIVE that something may at some point, some day be scary or present danger. This can also happen with things from the past. This old stuff is trickier as it means that we can sometimes react to people or situations like they were people or situations from our past…not rational but happens anyway. The good ole fight/flight mechanism is there for a reason but the problem is our overwhelmed, overstressed society triggers us to activate it far more regularly than was intended. And it’s automatic which means we have no choice if we get triggered.. The thing we do have a choice about is how we handle the trigger.
The fight/flight response in the body is complex and quite damaging. Another time we can get into the different mechanics of it and how it contributes to disease. But for today, I want to focus on the sun coming out because I am a lover of the sun and of optimism too. Breathing deeper into your diaphragm will automatically slow your heart rate and blood pressure. And when I say immediately, I mean IMMEDIATELY. I am sure you have had moments when you were your best self where you realized that all it takes is not reacting and tolerating the moment to allow it to pass. I still, like most of us, forget my best friend, my breath. I can be caught up in the moment and forget that my buddy is right there waiting for me to acknowledge her. We have to breath to live, right? When we stop breathing, well it’s time to move on to another realm or lifetime. But breathing in a way that sustains peace and calm in the body is a whole other story. The following is an amazing article from Yoga Journal on the connection between breath, body and stress management. http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/894 Using certain breathing techniques discussed in the article can have an immediate and sustaining impact on your nervous system. Most of us are raging control freaks right? Well, I’ll speak for myself:) I loved when I learned that my breath was actually something I COULD control as in all reality most of life is outside of my control. Meditation and yoga practice help shift your nervous system into a calmer place but nothing is as wicked awesome as knowing that in a WTF moment all you have to do is slow down and breathe. Because the sun will always come out again, but the key is to keep yourself sane today!
Since my day had some of the WTF moments, I am off to breathe, do some yoga and watch reruns of Greys! So go ahead sing along, get Annie on the brain and have a wonderful rest of your day whether it’s sunny or rainy wherever you are on this lovely planet.
Cheers!