Breathing Technique to Calm and Focus in Times of Stress

The Art of Calming 

What's Happening in Your Life at this Moment?

💓What are you dealing with that has you stressed or hyped? Could you use a simple breathing technique to calm you?

💙Do you need a way to center yourself so you can calmly prepare for an exam?

💚Do you need to calm yourself to prepare for a difficult treatment, like cancer, or as you recover from open heart surgery or a heart attack?

💜Do you need to focus and calm yourself as you seek work?

💛Are you dealing with the aftermath of a divorce, loss of a loved one, or major disaster?

Using What Works to Calm You

Calm, quiet, and focused attention--these are the things we need to get through times of upheaval.  

When times of trouble or high stress show up we need to put calming techniques to use that we otherwise might keep packed away. And the simpler the technique is to apply, the more likely we are to use it.

Sharing What Works for You

Paying it Forward 

Some of the best ideas come from others who pass on their favorite tips for getting through difficult times.  Today's breathing technique is one that my friend Stephanie, a survivor of breast cancer, shared.

'Do you know Jon Kabat-Zinn?', Stephanie asked. 'I used one of his meditation techniques--'This Moment;This Breath'--out of his book Full Catastrophe Living to get through the stress and discomfort of my cancer treatments. I found it so effective for calming and focusing me I now share it with my hand therapy patients to help them alleviate the pain and fear of their treatment.'

This Moment~This Breath Meditation

The beauty of this technique is you can pull it out and use it the moment you need to calm and focus yourself—no matter where you are and no matter what is going on causing you stress and suffering. 

You can use it when you're having difficulty shutting your mind off after going to  bed to help you fall asleep. Or you can use it when you need a moment to calm yourself during or after a difficult event.

When you practice this simple breathing technique it will take your mind off focusing on the past or future--where your fear and anxieties originate-- into being in the moment--This Moment.

💓As you INHALE think: 'This Moment';

💓As you EXHALE think: 'This Breath'

"The river taught him how to listen~

How to listen with a quiet heart

And a waiting soul, open soul,

Without passion, without desire,

without judgment, without opinion."

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Listen with a Quiet Heart

Choose to live in ‘This Moment’ through adopting this simple meditation to quell your fears and anxiety. Let yourself breath into ‘listening with a quiet heart—while developing a waiting and open soul’. 

Resource Recommendation

  

‘This Moment~This Breath’ mindfulness technique comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn's Book 'Full Catastrophe Living—Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness'. I highly recommend this book to you (Stephanie's recommendation!)

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.


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Lightarted Living: Life's Ups and Downs~Buckle Up and Hold On for the...

Lightarted Living: Life's Ups and Downs~Buckle Up and Hold On for the...: Buckle Up "Fate Leads Him Who Follows It, And Drags Him Who Resists." Plutarch Hold On For The Ride ...

Life's Ups and Downs~Buckle Up and Hold On for the Ride

Buckle Up

"Fate Leads Him

Who Follows It,

And Drags Him

Who Resists."

Plutarch

Hold On For The Ride

"Life is a cycle

Always in motion

If good times have moved on

So will times of trouble."

Indian Proverb

Dragonflies~The Power of Light 

Dragonflies represent new life, transformation

and the wonder of colorful new vision.

If you've been dealing with an illness or poor health, 

enjoy the uplifting vision of Dragonflies as they are also 

symbols of the restoring of, and 

changing of health conditions for the better.

Times of Trouble

'Times of trouble' in the form of cancer and it's impending treatment has found it's way into my family. We are optimistic about the outcome--and are accepting all words of uplift, optimism and hope. What goes around comes around. 

Today's thanks go to Stephanie Bric for the 'hold on for the ride' quote; Normie Wright for the Indian Proverb; and to Jannine Meyerott for the Dragonfly symbolism. 

💓Stephanie, a cancer survivor herself called to say, 'Hold on for the ride. You'll get through this and move beyond'. 

💓Normie, a cancer survivor, shared the 'Times of Trouble' quote that helped her get through her grueling treatment.  

💓Jannine, has dealt with cancer in her own family.

We are all here to share light and uplift with one another. That is how we get through the Times of Trouble and move back to the Good Times. 

Buckle Up!

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: The Heart and Strength to Overcome Hardships

Lightarted Living: The Heart and Strength to Overcome Hardships: A Heart for Any Fate "Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to ...

The Heart and Strength to Overcome Hardships

A Heart for Any Fate

"Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to Labor and to wait."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Dragonfly~

A Symbol of Courage and Strength

Did you know the dragonfly is a symbol of the courage, adaptability and strength needed to overcome hardships? 

Perhaps that's why we're so drawn to these attractive and adept creatures. 

We all need to find images, quotes, and symbols that inspire us to keep going--to be 'up and doing--still achieving, still pursuing'--when difficulties arise. We want to arouse the courage within us to persist and conquer what is put before us. 

Let Us, then, Be Up and Doing

Who among us doesn't desire 'the heart for any fate'--a hardiness of spirit based in our ability to be courageous and adaptable when faced with the hardships of life? 

Life has a way of throwing us curve balls that test our endurance for handling life. 

Each time we wonder "do I have what it takes to get through yet another 'difficult life lesson'?" 

We do. We discover what we're made of the moment we begin to face the difficulty head on. 

If you don't start with the courage and strength, the life experience will show you that deep inside you is a well of intestinal fortitude for you to draw on.

Courage Means to Take Heart 

So what is the key to having the courage and strength to overcome yet one more hardship? You step into life and keep on laboring--'learn to labor and to wait.'

We're all afraid when we first come face to face with a major life difficulty. But as Susan Jeffers said so many years ago, the way to deal with the fear is to "feel the fear, and do it anyway." 

Step into action. Face the fear. Fly in the face of fear. Take one step, and then another. Your courage and strength will emerge when you face your fears head on.

Take Heart in Your Struggles

Do you know the origins of the word 'Courage'? First known use was in the 14th century. The word courage  has been traced  back to  corage (Middle English;, curage, quer, and coer  meaning  heart (Anglo-French); and cor (Latin) meaning  more at heart.

Courage Synonyms: great heartedness, guts, gutsiness, hardihood, heart, heroism, intestinal fortitude, moxie, nerve, prowess, stoutness, valor, virtue

Find Great Heartedness within Yourself

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.

Lightarted Living: Grief~Honoring the Sacredness of Tears

Lightarted Living: Grief~Honoring the Sacredness of Tears: The Sacredness of Tears "There is a sacredness in tears.  They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.  They speak...

Grief~Honoring the Sacredness of Tears

The Sacredness of Tears

"There is a sacredness in tears. 

They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. 

They speak more eloquently 

than ten thousand tongues. 

They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, 

of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."  

Author Unknown 

(earliest reference: Dr. Johnson 1841; 

also attributed to William Corbett and Washington Irving) 

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: Comfort and Sorrow

Lightarted Living: Comfort and Sorrow:  "Ah  done been in sorrow's kitchen   and ah  licked  de  pots clean ."  Gullah Woman's Proverb ...

Comfort and Sorrow

 "Ah done been in sorrow's kitchen 

and ah licked de pots clean." 

Gullah Woman's Proverb

He that is thy friend indeed, 

He will help thee in thy need:

If thou sorrow, he will weep; 

If you wake, he cannot sleep; 

Thus of every grief in heart 

He with thee doth bear a part.

Richard Barnfield

Every life has a measure of sorrow,

and sometimes this is what awakens us.

Steven Tyler

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. 

Don't resist them--that only creates sorrow. 

Let reality be reality. 

Let things flow naturally forward 

in whatever way they like.”

Lao Tzu

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: The Only Way Out of Our Darkest Moments

Lightarted Living: The Only Way Out of Our Darkest Moments: Our Darkest Moments "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no...

The Only Way Out of Our Darkest Moments

Our Darkest Moments

"Finish each day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."    

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't Stay Stuck in the Dark Days

Finding Our Way in Difficult Times

We all face difficult times throughout life. Who among us wants to stay stuck in the dark days any longer than we have to when we have work to do to make the world a better place? 

Break Free

Discover Your Deep Inner Strength and Indomitable Spirit 

We all long to discover that deep inner strength and indomitable spirit we possess to help us find our way out of the darkness and back into fighting for our dreams.

How do we get back to living from a place of strength, courage and trust--and get out of the depths of despair sooner? Emerson said no matter what the problem you're dealing with, keep your focus on your dreams, not your problems.

The Only Way Out of Our Darkest Moments

Sometimes in the overwhelming challenge of trying to recover from a devastating loss or situation we're left feeling discouraged, hopeless and isolated. Looking through the lens of defeat and loss, life can begin to feel flat and meaningless.

 Change the Filter You Look Through

The key to pulling out of the darkness is to change the filter you look through to gain a fresh perspective. Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.'

Remember Your Dreams

When you're dispirited it may feel like an impossible task to change your perspective. You don't exactly feel perky.

Yet, changing your focus from the problem at hand and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles you face to putting the focus back on creating a life based on your dreams and aspirations IS the only way out.

What Are Your Dreams and Aspirations?

💛 What are your dreams and hopes for you and the world around you? What is your motivation for living?

💛 What is one thing you would be willing to get involved with for the greater good of all?

💛 If you had the time, energy and courage to pursue your dreams of making the world a better place--what would you get busy doing? 

Stay Strong. Be Courageous.

There is no way to avoid or go around the painful part of life on our way to achieving our dreams. No one 'has it easy'. 

But if each day we keep our eyes on the goal, instead of the obstacles, we allow ourselves to be led by our dreams instead of pushed by our problems, making it easier to endure the difficulties along the way. 

 

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before. 

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, sign up for free e-mail subscription.

Lightarted Living: Stone Cold Wisdom

Lightarted Living: Stone Cold Wisdom: Stone Cold Wisdom Never Let Yesterday Use up too Much of Today!  This bit of 'stone cold wisdom' that came off  s...

Stone Cold Wisdom

Stone Cold Wisdom

Never Let Yesterday

Use up too Much of Today! 

This bit of 'stone cold wisdom' that came off 

studying a slab of marble made me laugh. 

I hope this bit of silliness puts a smile on your face too!

Ponder The Problem 

Take your time to consider the problem.

Give it the Smell Test

Consider what's really going on...

what's at the core of the issue?

What smells like the right way to go?

Be Kind, Doggone it!

Find ways to kiss and make up,

extend a hand, or forgive a loved one.

Choose to put your best foot forward.

Sleep On It

Don't rush to judgment.

Give yourself time for heated emotions to calm down.

Things are always clearer after sleeping on it.

If You Find Yourself in a Hole,

Stop Digging

"It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble,

It's what we know that ain't so."

Will Rogers

Give yourself time for the TRUTH to come forth.

Hide

Sometimes avoidance is the best solution!

SHUT UP!

Sometimes running our mouth is the problem. 

When in doubt, shut it!

Stay Calm

Never let yesterday

use up too much of today.

Find a solution and move on.

The Best Advice

Do the Best You Can.

When in doubt, go fishing.

And....Always, Always Avoid Advice Set in Stone!

💓Thanks to my sister-in-law and fellow artist, Lee, who kindly keeps me in constant supply of photos to look into and see what's there...'as clear as the nose on my face'. Lee sent the photo of the slab of marble they were considering for a kitchen counter. I found the advice set in stone....

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: I Think I Shall Never See a Poem Lovely as a Tree

Lightarted Living: I Think I Shall Never See a Poem Lovely as a Tree: "I think that I shall never see  A poem lovely as a tree." "A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed  Again...