APRIL

take a deep breath

BY: #STUKGIRL LAUREN

First, take a deep breath; inhale through your nose and hold for 3 seconds. Then, slowly exhale through your mouth. Repeat for 2 more breaths.

I noticed sometimes that I will unintentionally hold my breath. I have no idea why I do this, but it has made me be more conscious about taking deep breath breaks. Literally taking a break, just to take a few deep breaths. It helps to make your mind and body feel more relaxed. 

With that said, I’ve taken quite a few breathing breaks this month. No doubt that this has been one hell of a year so far. But, continuing to find calmness within and choosing your focus to be on things you can control, will keep you on the right path. Try controlling your mindset to be positive, instead of letting negativity consume you. Remove yourself from unwanted situations and interactions, by controlling your environment and who you allow in your space. Taking a moment to find a solution rather than complaining about a problem, is a good way to turn things around.

For example, the news. There’s a lot happening in the world, our cities and communities. We have to filter how much we expose ourselves to at times. We are constantly on social media and see repeated information on multiple platforms. It tends to become overwhelming. Start to limit where you will access information from. If you’re on Twitter all day, mute accounts you see retweeting info you just viewed. You will have to do this on Instagram and Facebook too, if you really want to unplug. 

I mentioned before that Yoga and meditation are outlets I use to tune out and recently I downloaded a new meditation app called Insight Timer. I currently use Simple Habit and have briefly tried Calm. Simple Habit is a great app with a lot of different options of meditations to choose from. I’ve only used Insight Timer once so far, but it seems to have a good range of options as well.

We might be dealing with a lot at the moment, but actively working through it all and finding small escapes can help. Use this time we have to stay inside to be productive. Start something new or finish something you previously started. I’m going to take this time to catch up on some reading, do some more writing, hangout with friends/family (via FaceTime, of course) and continue working on some projects I haven’t been tending to. Take those deep breaths and continue to focus on centering yourself.