Breathing and Relaxing

You don’t need to fall into the stress mode of life. You can use breath to relax,
rather than stress, your mind and body. Yoga helps you to relearn that natural
state that your body and mind want to be in: relaxation.
Deep breathing is both calming and energizing. The energy you feel from a few
minutes of careful breathe is not nervous or hyper, but that calm, steady energy
we all need. Slow, steady, and quiet breathing gives a message to your nervous
system: Be calm.
Whole books have been written on yoga breathing. Here is one 5-minute Breath
Break. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.)

1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don’t
   slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your
   feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the
   floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.
2. Close your eyes gently and let them rest behind closed lids.
3. Think about your ribs, at the front, back, and at the sides of your body. Your
   lungs are behind those ribs.
4. Feel your lungs filling up, your ribs expanding out and up. Feel your lungs
   emptying, your ribs coming back down and in. Don’t push the breath.
5. The first few times you do this, do it for 2 to 3 minutes, then do it for up to 5
   to 10 minutes. At first, set aside a time at least once a day to do this. When you
   learn how good it makes you feel, you’ll want to do it at other times as well.
   Just as one stressful situation goes into your next challenge, relaxing for a few
   minutes every day gradually carries over into the rest of your daily life and
   activities.