Most of the time breathing just happens.

In & Out ... an average of 22,000 times per day. (lung.ca)

Breathing is one of those amazing things that can be controlled automatically by the autonomic nervous system OR it can be controlled by you voluntarily.

For this post we are going to focus on a breathing exercise that can have a profound effect on your nervous system. 

​This is something that Yogis have know forever, but science and research are only just catching on to.

Just so you are better able to follow along when I get further into how the breathing exercise affects your body, I feel I need to give you a little background .... it's short I promise.

Your autonomic nervous system has 2 parts ... the sympathetic - fight or flight - triggers an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate ... and the parasympathetic - rest and digest - which triggers a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate.

Most parts of your body have nerve fibres for both the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of your nervous system ... including your nose.

And a large number of us are running around with our sympathetic nervous systems firing like crazy!

​I was actually blown away by the number of research studies that I was able to find on the effects of left nostril breathing on general health and the nervous system.

And guess what ... my research supported what I was taught about moon breath!

In yoga teachings, when you breathe in through a nostril the qualities of that side will be activated and when you breathe out the through a nostril the qualities will be sedated. 

The left nostril being connected to the lunar energy channel, brings cooling and nourishing energy ...and the right nostril being connected to the solar energy channel, brings warmth and fire energy.

There are actually 3 breathing exercises you can use to embrace these energies ... Moon breath or left nostril breathing, Sun breath or right nostril breathing and alternate nostril breathing (which we well learn about in the next post).

Although there is a time and a place for sun breath, my research actually focused on moon breath because what I see most in the clinic is people whose nervous systems that are stressed and just need to be soothed.

With Moon Breath ... you focus your inhale through the left nostril and your exhale though the right.

When you have left nostril dominance you generally feel more restful; locomotion activity decreases; heart rate decreases; blood pressure decreases; respiration rate decreases; and body temp decreases. Your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system is activated and the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system is sedated.

From the yogi perspective ... moon breath is very nourishing and calming, and will sooth your nervous system. It is helpful before bed if you have trouble sleeping; if you need to physically cool your body (like if you are blessed with hot flashes); and when dealing with stress, jittery or anxious feelings or when you just need to calm an overactive mind.

Out of all of the breathing exercises that I have learned, I find that what I need most is moon breath ... and I use this exercise regularly throughout the day when I am feeling stressed or anxious and my nervous system needs a little help to calm down.

So my challenge for you ...

Give Moon Breath a try ... observe what you feel immediately and in the time after practicing.

Start with 22 breath cycles - inhale + exhale = one.

Counting like this ......... Inhale, exhale, one .... inhale, exhale, two .... inhale, exhale, three ....
or counting off beads on your mala or meditation bracelet (find the special bead, count off 22 beads and then with each breath cycle move backward towards the special one)

Aim to try this breathing every day for at least 2 week ( just to give it a fair shot) and see how you feel. Most of the research studies allowed for 6 weeks of practice before reassessing. 

​Regular practice will help your brain and body learn the exercise and the effect so that when you need it in an emergency or stress crisis you aren't trying to learn it on the spot.

So pick a quiet place and time of day when you can consistently practice.

And Just Breathe.

​Namasté

PS. For more breathing exercises click here.
For guided meditations click here​.
​Stay tuned for information on the benefits of alternate nostril breathing.

For most of my meditation history I did not have a set place to practice. Which meant that I was very sporadic in my meditation, practicing whenever I could find the time or clear a space.

This often meant that I was only surface meditating because I was never really able to train my brain and body to fully sink into my practice.

Maybe the floor was too hard, or there was too much extra noise, or too much chaos in the house, or the place I had decided on for that particular day actually caused my anxiety to ramp up rather than calming and soothing my nervous system.

But I did not really realize any of this until the beginning of the pandemic.

At the beginning when my clinic was shut down, I had the heartbreaking reality of having an empty clinic and not knowing when I would be able to begin practice again. I could not look at the clinic, set up as a clinic, and not have sadness wash over me. So I packed it up ... and took the opportunity to bring calm to myself amid the chaos and turned my treatment room into a meditation/yoga/dance studio.

See ... just a little space in the middle of our living room.
​
Then I had to start to set my meditation stage, so to speak, and create my very own sacred space.

I hope you are inspired to create your own sacred space for meditation ... even if all you start with is something lovely to gaze at.

If you need inspiration please let me know, I am happy to help guide you. 

Be Well!

Namasté

PS ... don't forget to check out all of my guided meditation recordings
as well as my Malas, Meditation bracelets & Essential Art collection.

That 30 minutes of reading has found to be just as effective as yoga at lowering blood pressure, heart rate and feelings of psychological distress!

Or that reading increases brain connectivity both during active reading and for days after ... the brain literally lights up with activity when viewed under an MRI during reading.

Would you run and grab something to read or would you need a little more convincing?

Here is more research that I found to support reading being good for your health ...

• a 2009 study found that reading reduces stress levels by 68%, making it more effective than taking a walk (42%) or drinking a cup of tea (54%) ... now imagine what would happen if you drank a cup of tea while reading?!?!
• another study from 2013 found that reading literary fiction elevated levels of empathy
• it can boost brain power, increase general knowledge
• reading helps improve memory ... as you remember character names, their nature and their place in the story your brain is creating new pathways and synapses with every knew memory
• studies have found that people who engage in mentally stimulating activities, like reading, all their lives are less likely to develop age-related cognitive decline.
• it can be motivating and inspiring as well as an escape from your reality
• reading can be a part of a healthy bedtime routine for some people (some of us have a hard time putting a book down when we get sucked in lol)

Now, if you are at all like me, that first line already had you running for the nearest book and hollering to your family that you were taking a wellness break and are not to be disturbed ... although if you are really really like me, you probably already had a book or two sitting right beside you ready to go lol.

For the rest of you ... The answer is simple ...

Read anything and everything you can get your hands on!

Mix it up between fiction and non-fiction (but stay the heck away from the news ... that shits depressing).

Try something motivational or life changing.

Step out of your comfort zone and try a new genre ... or a subcategory of your favourite genre.

Pull out your old favourites, or a new book from your favourite author.

Find something with a little sizzle (or a lot - thanks to RHD for that awesome word hahaha), some suspense, or action, or adventure ... something set in your favourite location ... something that teaches you something fun.

Ask friends for recommendations and give them a try ... even if they aren't the typical books you read you never know what amazing world you might stumble across.

Try the website whatshouldireadnext.com for suggestions based on a book you loved.

Check out your local library.

Sign up for bookbub.com and get emails once a day or once a week highlighting e-books that are being offered for free or sale from the publishers and accessible though your favourite book reading apps. You get to pick the genres and subcategories that you see offers for.

Joy is defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness according to google and Oxford Languages.

Seems simple enough, right?!?!?!

But sometimes, somewhere along the road we seem to lose sight of what brings us Joy and we end up just surviving.

We end up bogged down in work, and schedules, and housework (even just with the essentials and not the dark corners where the dust bunnies multiply), and kids, and earning extra money to afford the next big trip, and holidays, and family obligations, and, and, and ... and we long for the next weekend even though it is only Monday, or the next day off, simply because we didn't make time to prioritize what brings us Joy, what fuels us, what lights us up, what energizes us.

So how do we break this nasty cycle you ask?

​We bring back Joy, and Pleasure, and Happiness.

We prioritize it every single day! 

Even if that means sitting in a kitchen full of dirty dishes and recycling to write a blog post (yep you guessed it, that's me right now because writing blogs brings me joy).

Having trouble getting started? Here are some of the things on my Joy list, just to get you thinking ...

One of the other major things that I do is surround myself with actual printed photos ... of my favourite places, of my people in my favourite places, of a moment that just filled my heart till it was so full it was leaking out my eyes. My walls are full of both photographs and my art so that when I shift my gaze around any room I always land on something or someone that brings me joy or a joyful memory.

So print those photos you have stored on your phone, or the ones on your computer ... frame them and display them ... and then when your gaze lands on them, close your eyes, bring the memory to the surface and watch the scene like its from your favourite movie, and go back to it over and over again any time you need a little reminder that there is Love & Joy all around us ... we just have to choose to see it.

I think that we can all learn from each other, and sharing our journeys towards choosing Joy is the best place to start!

​So, share your adventures towards finding Joy again! 

Show us what brings you Joy!

​Be Joyful & Well!

In the week leading up to the most craziest storm I think I have ever seen, I had been craving a quiet escape ... so much so that I had even contemplated seeing if I could convince my family to go camping for night at the end of May.

In the aftermath of the storm, once we knew it would be days not hours until power was restored, the kids and I quickly pivoted. Flashlights were collected and placed on the kitchen table, camp stove and pots dug out of the equipment buckets in the basement, propane tank picked up from Grandma and Grandpa, and cooler filled with ice jugs and anything from the fridge we thought we might need.

Then the most amazing thing happened ... we became Urban Campers for 2.5 days!

We did all of the camping things that I love like quietly reading books together, we played games together, went for walks everyday together, cooked on our beloved camp stove (the BBQ and I don't see eye to eye lmao, give me a camp stove any day), cooperatively did the dishes after every meal, and we visited the best comfort station EVER for hot hot showers (aka grandma & grandpas).

We had FUN despite the chaos and panic around us.

I knew without a doubt that they were working as hard and as fast as they could to restore the power ... and that it would all be okay in the end.

I was not stressed.

I simply enjoyed the quiet that no hydro brought and the disconnect from everything (no cell service will do that).

Now I know that not everyone had a blissful weekend like we did.

My husband was super busy at work (he's a paramedic). All of the essential people worked really hard to keep us safe from downed wires, cleared trees, and help anyone injured during the storm. And some of you who I have chatted with since the long weekend found their stress ramped up.

Maybe we can take some lessons from camping to heart and apply them to life and any future adventures the environment might through our way ...

... preparation is key ... whatever will be will be ... the weather is always unpredictable ... working together makes things better and often faster ... nature is healing, grounding, and soothing ... being disconnected periodically is actually good for your health and wellbeing ... slow down and enjoy the moments ... making memories doesn't have to be expensive ... your won't melt if you get caught in a downpour ... regular exercise and moving of your body is key ... as is sleep ... and everyone loves a good board game!

Embrace the here and now, the present moment, and be mindful always.

I hope that you are inspired to take a different view on your own experience during the power outage & find some beautiful memories there.

I know I plan to bring back some no tech game nights to our house in the future, and am looking forward to sleeping in an actual tent the next time we camp. 

(Below are a sampling of photos from our urban camping adventures.)

​Be Well!

2.5 days Urban camping, May long weekend 2022 ...

And then we did it again for another day and a half the following weekend, lol.