This Post is part of a series:
Essential Skills for New Parents: How yoga practices can help you parent with peace and presence.
Breath: The Gateway to Calm
It was one of those nights when the baby was crying and we had done everything we could think of to soothe him. As a brand new mom, I was in serious distress. I found myself turning to my practice of conscious breathing to get me through. As soon as I got into a rhythm of watching my breath and felt myself drop into that deep state of calm, the baby stopped crying. He stopped! Whoo hoo!
Did my calm state help him find his? Maybe. Children do pattern their nervous system off of their parents’. Sometimes my state of calm helped him find calm and other times it took quite a while. At the very least, by staying in a calm state, I was not adding fuel to the fire.
Conscious breathing is such a great tool for any time of distress. When anxiety, or fear threaten to take over, your breath is always there for you.
Conscious breathing is really easy:
Put your awareness on your breath.
You may wish to bring your attention to:
the sensation of your breath at your nostrils, your belly or your chest, or
the sound of your breath.
Let your breath be a little slower, and a little longer than normal.
Allow your breath to come to a steady, even rhythm- maybe counting to 4 or 5 on the inhale and 4 or 5 on the exhale.
Stay here with the steady, even rhythm of your breath until you feel calm or until the storm passes.
Conscious breathing creates a sense of calm in two ways:
Breath is the link between your conscious awareness and your body’s autonomic nervous system. Allowing your breath to come to its slow, even rhythm gives the body the signal to calm.
Focusing on your breath takes your attention off of your anxiety, fear, panic or the constant barrage of thoughts in your head. This naturally quiets the mind.
The more your practice conscious breathing, the more your body and mind will be practiced at being in a state of calm. Conscious breathing is a great practice to use while feeding the baby, waiting at the doctors office, in traffic, in any kind of line-up, or when waiting for a child to fall asleep.
Concious breathing benefits you and the people around you. By being in a state of calm, you are contributing peace to yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you.
So the next time you are in a distressing situation- baby crying, big meeting, big line up, traffic jam, bring your awareness to your breath, follow it to a state of calm and see what happens.
In the next blog post, I will explain how the practice and skill of concentration is essential if you want to be present and working efficiently.
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This post is part of a series:
Essential Skills for New Parents: How yoga practices can help you parent with peace and presence.
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I am working on a book on the same topic to compile all the practices with further information and make it available as an easy reference for new and expecting parents. Please subscribe to my newsletter in the blue box below if you want to be sure to get the book.
LOVE AND PEACE
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Nicole St. Arnaud is a twice-certified Yoga Instructor in Iyengar and Yasodhara Yoga, a Reiki Master, a Heartmath certified practitioner, and a parent. She has been living with chronic illness and exploring the healing journey for over 20 years.
Nicole is a regular contributor for theMighty.com , and shares insights and reflections from her healing journey on aslowerkindoflife.com.
