Oxygen is a key component to life. Did you know that there are super-heal oxygen chambers to help you recover from life-threatening injuries-? It's just lots of oxygen pumped into a chamber where you're laying or standing. You breathe it, for certain lengths of time and it helps your body heal faster! (1.) Maybe you've heard of oxygen bars? You literally go sit in a cool, relaxing space and inhale - - - oxygen. Ha! It can even be scented! Actually, there are all kinds of options. I know it sounds like a hippie thing to do, but do you know why it exists? Because human brains love oxygen. It makes us feel really, really good. The more of it the better- to a point. Like all things, too much of a good thing is not okay. Hence the controlled environment. Getting more oxygen in your body than just the bare minimum that your body will instinctively take in to to keep you alive, is one easy way to calm your nervous system. Overly stressed? Breathe. Angry? Breathe? Happiest day of your life, you can't stop crying though? Breathe. Anxious? Breathe. Just ran a marathon, exhaustion is setting in? Breathe. It's a really powerful tool that we all have control over that we don't maybe think about because it seems like it just happens on it's own. But taking control of it, and using it as your vehicle, it's the way you can get through pretty much anything if you can simply remember to do it: breathe. Give your brain some more oxygen to make well-informed choices. Slow down, and breathe. Anxiety has played a roll in my life. I have made some crappy choices while riding an anxiety wave. Knee-jerk reactions are not a good thing if they're fueled by crappy coping mechanisms. Self-medicating is a really toxic, knee-jerk type of response that I could write a book on. But I won't, because who knows, maybe it'll be a topic later on down the road, since we're still just learning how to breathe. ;) Anxiety for me looks like heightened awareness, overly-stimulated, heart-racing, dry throat, shaking, sweaty palms, unable to get a full thought across. Nausea. Diarrhea. Chest pain. Shortness of breath. Clenched jaw. Weird twitches. My heart beats in my ears so loud it's not ignore-able. I have the immediate need to get away from wherever I am and go somewhere by myself to get it together. If pushed, I've suffered anxious breakdowns that do not make sense to a sensible person. Which I'm not when I'm anxious. So, clearly a debilitating thing to have when you're awake, yes? It also plagued me at night. I had sleep-anxiety. It's where you're so anxious you won't get enough sleep that you just sit there in a state of anxiety, tensed-up, holding my breath at times, (which I didn't realize I was doing until so much later on...), mind racing, the more tired I would get, the worse it would get. I'd start getting emotional, I'd cry and pray I could fall asleep. And then, when I finally told my doc, and he diagnosed me, I was given anxiety meds to help me sleep. Friends, this is after I'd tried everything out there. Yes, melatonin. Yes. Anxiety totally over-rode that. Yes, oils. ;) Yes, everything. So anxiety meds. They worked. I slept. But, I never dealt with the core issue so it would plague me in other ways later, that I didn't realize at the time. I will tell you this: I got addicted to those Anxiety meds. I became reliant upon them, and what was supposed to be temporary turned into 9 years. Many times I tried to get off of them, and I would relapse. Sleep anxiety, brain shocks from not taking them and my brain wanted them! I do not knock anxiety meds, friends, that's not the point. They are a tool to be used in an arsenal of other options. I just have an addictive personality, so it was a perfect storm. However, what made me eventually get through removing anxiety meds? One thing, was breathing. Breathing brought it all back to Earth. It brought my mind back into my head. I wasn't reeling, or in a state of reaction once I started to breathe. I am no expert at this. Not today or ever, most likely. I'm simply stating, as a person who literally suffered from anxiety. .I am telling you, as a friend, as a person who has blazed this trail: Just Breathe. Because, here's the truth and the wisdom gleaned: This moment in time is temporary. There are few things we can control. One, is our breath. And, what happens when we breathe? We're flooded with oxygen! Our old buddy from paragraph one! Our brains love oxygen. They feel the best when they are chock-full of the stuff. It makes a brain able to function much more efficiently than when it's deprived. Like holding your breath! I think many do this and don't realize it, so if that's you, take a moment and breathe! So friends, to sum up- take a few minutes out of your day to breathe. It sounds so silly, but sitting down and meaningfully taking even just 5 minutes to breathe and focus on nothing more than that in this crazy, ever-evolving world can help bring you back to Earth. It can help you heal. It can help your anxiety level. It helps SO much and takes so little effort, (except the WILL it takes to sit and only breathe, because we're all used to being so busy!)... Connect to your breath, realize how much that oxygen is doing for your body. You need it! Your brain craves it! And the stillness that comes with breathing, might just be the breakthrough you're looking for. When you slow down and give your brain more oxygen, things become clearer and easier to see. Take my advice, and breathe. So this wraps up my first blog entry but in a way starts my journey of putting things into words that I've held in for so long. Along the way of sharing, lets maybe go back to this post once in a while. That's how important it is to growth! Breathing is essential. Peace, love and BREATHE! MB Helpful links regarding Breathing: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417.php
Yoga and Breathing:
Ujjayi Breathing | Yoga with Adriene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQrsJ-yZWV8
References:
1. Wattel, F., Mathieu, D., Coget, J.-M., & Billard, V. (1990). Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Chronic Vascular Wound Management. Angiology, 41(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/000331979004100109
2. DiSalvo, David. Understanding the connection between sleep and anxiety. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuronarrative/201812/understanding-the-connection-between-sleep-and-anxiety
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