Recently when checking out a lifestyle app, there were a few suggested ways to focus on breathing .
It was not a new and yet it was a timely reminder to focus on healthy rhythms that literally and figuratively breathe life into us both personally and professionally. The one that comes to mind the most often is to:
breathe in 4-6 seconds
pause 4-6 seconds
breath out 4-6 seconds
pause 4-6 seconds.
What a great principle for our day whether at work of home.
Take a stab at defining what actions for you are about breathing in.
What would make a meaningful pause after that big breath in?
What does it look like for you to breathe out?
What does a pause look like after you have breathed out? Is it the same or different than the pause after breathing in.
This is a great principle for recreating or shifting or pivoting when you get stuck. Oh yes, I know it is the new year and supposedly everything is fresh and shiny. If that is true for you that is great, keep on and use this time to prepare yourself for when you do get stuck. Yes, it will come, and on those days, you will be now be better equipped to get unstuck and keep moving forward.
True story!
On January 3rd, it was with a wry chuckle, I thought of how many people placed their hope in a new year. Leaving 2020 behind and embracing 2021. 2021 looked so new and fresh as we approached it, and yes, it is. And yet the 2021 page looks so similar to the 2020 page so far.
Breathing in for me, was to stop and look at what I had, the resources, the people, the opportunities.
To pause was to practice gratitude in those moments as a reminder of what and who I do have and what and who I hav etc work with.
To breathe out was to form a strategic intention or to take a meaningful action on what and with who I did have.
To pause was to reflect and to pay attention to what most most needful next.
This is simply one example, it may look different for you. You also may realize this is a rhythm that may be quite natural for you already, keep breathing! You may have discovered this is a different kind of work than you have done before, keep drawing air, gasping where you need to till it becomes an unconscious and yet intentional rhythm of being and doing.
By the way because l believe in celebrations that honour the breath we have been given, today is my birthday and I am grateful for every breath I have been given and have had opportunity to share with you and with others. I am blessed and grateful - big pause to celebrate!
Happy Breathing in 2021!