...one still frame...

Give yourself permission to take time to breathe, 

to live life, to give,

to love, to reflect,

to be present 

And to...just BE.

i'm thinking you may have heard this story.

but here it goes again.

(yup...it's long)

a couple of years back.

i had a severe anxiety attack.

to the point that i had myself convinced.

i couldn't breathe.

i couldn't sleep.

spent the day wondering what was wrong with me.

this went on for a week or so.

i ended up in ER because i couldn't face.

the thought of one more night.

"not breathing."

i had myself worked up.

my blood pressure was through the roof. 

i had the gamut of tests run.

nothing wrong or out of the ordinary.

the ER wanted me to follow up with my Dr.

and to get a stress test.

in speaking to the nurse,

who was taking my vitals 

and information before the Dr.,

she completely understood what i was saying.

enter the Dr.

he doesn't feel i need a stress test.

i'm just hyperventilating.

and i need to breathe into my hands.

OMG.

i then go to my GYN.

who doesn't try to find my underlying problem.

hormones?

menopause?

he writes a script for an anti-depressant.

and writes it for the highest dose possible.

i take it.

for a month.

at the end of the day...

i'm breathing.

but i am, NOW, more "depressed" than ever.

to the point.

i don't care if i get out of bed.

i am here to say.

it didn't work for me.

and if anti-depressants works for you.

hallelujah.

you do you!!

i am genuinely happy for you.

i stopped taking them.

enter into my life.

an opportunity.

to take a course to become.

a certified breathing trainer.

(insert happy dance)

along with my beliefs from,

being a certified occupational therapy assistant,

i went into this course

believing in the notion

that your body wants to heal itself.

if given the right tools. 

BREATH

is now my tool.

9 out of 10 people don't breathe correctly.

around the age of five.

life starts to get in the way.

we stop using our belly breath.

we switch it to our upper body.

we are guarded.

we take short, shallow breaths.

just to get by to the next breath.

the next "stressor" life throws at us.

then we become stuck.

we all have this thing.

called the vagus nerve.

it runs from your brain.

down into your gut.

the vagus nerve picks up cues.

on how you are breathing.

it will put you into a state of

sympathetic (stress response) or

parasympathetic (rest-relax-renew)

the biggest cues for the vagus nerve?

how you are breathing!!!

You can breathe yourself into the stress response

with shallow, fast, upper chest breaths.

or breathe your way into relaxation with deep, slow,

belly breaths.

NOW, more than ever.

we need to BREATHE.

if you know me.

i like it simple.

it IS that simple.

let's BREATHE.

...just BE.