Attitude Breathing

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Attitude Breathing

By Doc Childre

Sometimes it can be hard to stop negative thoughts or draining moods. At

these times, using the Attitude Breathing tool helps you anchor your heart

power and bring your thoughts and emotions back into balance. Practicing

Attitude Breathing is like soaking your uncomfortable feelings in a

comforting bath. It takes the " fire " out of negative thoughts and emotions

so they have less fuel and power.

To prepare to use this tool, take a moment to build an attitude of

appreciation for someone or something and imagine you are breathing that

feeling of appreciation through your heart for two or three breaths.

Attitude Breathing is simple:

Step 1. Shift your attention to your heart and solar plexus/stomach area.

Step 2. Ask yourself, " What would be a better attitude for me to maintain in

this situation? " Then, set up an inner attitude, like " stay calm, " " stay

neutral in this situation, " " don't judge before you know the facts, " " make

peace with this, " or decide what attitude is appropriate for your situation.

Step 3. Next gently and sincerely pretend to breathe the new attitude you

want in through the heart. Then breathe it out through the solar plexus and

stomach to anchor it. Do this for a while until you feel the new attitude

has set in.

When to use Attitude Breathing: Attitude Breathing is an easy and useful

tool you can use in a wide variety of situations. Here are some of them:

a.. When you wake up in the morning: Thoughts and emotions like anxiety,

worry, sadness, hurt or anger can often try to creep in as soon as you wake

up in the morning, sometimes before you even get out of bed. That's where

the expression " getting up on the wrong side of the bed " comes from!

Practice Attitude Breathing within the first 30 minutes to an hour after you

awaken, as you remember it during your preparations for the day. You can do

it while in the shower, getting dressed for school or on the way to school.

The reason for doing this is that those negative thoughts and attitudes you

wake up with can quickly increase in momentum if you don't neutralize and

replace them with attitudes that are not self-draining. Choose the thoughts

and attitudes that would benefit your day and breathe them in through the

heart and out through the solar plexus and abdomen area. The outward breath

through the solar plexus anchors the attitude.

If you find any of those negative morning thoughts or emotions returning

during your day, take a moment to refocus on a positive replacement attitude

and begin to practice attitude breathing again for a little while. Remember

that you don't have to stop regular activities to use the Attitude Breathing

tool.

Using this tool first thing in the morning is important! If you start your

morning with stress-producing attitudes or worries, they gain strength

quickly, setting up a continuous emotional loop that's hard to shake off

throughout the day. Negative morning thoughts and emotions, if left

unchecked, can create a pressing momentum, which can sap your vitality even

before noon. This can leave you without the will to care about being

productive the rest of the day.

a.. Releasing tension or anxiety: A buildup of tension is an indicator of

being out of balance emotionally. Some of us accumulate tension in the area

of the chest. We may experience shortness of breath, heart palpitations, or

irregular heartbeats. Others experience tension as a headache or a knot in

the stomach, back, neck, or shoulders. Use Attitude Breathing to help

release tension in any part of the body. As you do this, ask yourself, " What

would be a more balanced feeling or approach to what I'm doing? " Once you

feel more emotionally balanced, then pretend to breathe the feeling of

balance through the area of tension. You'll start to feel the tension

release as more of your balanced heart energy moves through that area.

Attitude Breathing is especially useful for calming yourself when you feel

anxiety - or before entering a situation that usually makes you feel anxious

(before a test, performance, or social encounter, for example). Using

Attitude Breathing helps soothe and disperse the anxious feelings and brings

you back to balance.

a.. Stopping emotional reactivity: During stressful times, many people

experience negative emotions, such as anxiety, fear, uncertainty, grief, and

anger. This can make us more edgy and irritable and sometimes cause us to

react strongly to others before we think twice about it. At times, you might

notice this kind of emotional reactivity in yourself or in those around you,

including your parents, teachers, or friends. When you feel yourself

beginning to react emotionally to someone or something, use Attitude

Breathing to take the excess negative emotion out of your reaction.

Anchoring your energy in your heart and solar plexus will help you stay

centered and see calmly and clearly how best to respond.

Regards,