Are you breathing?

I have a sense of uneasiness deep within. I am on the verge of breaking through a major self imposed barrier. I keep finding myself breathing very shallow and often holding my breath for moments of time. There is part of me that is ready to let go and there is another part of me that is so afraid.

Anytime you have a negative sensation in your physical body it is an indication that you are having a negative thought or emotion. Remember 95% of our thoughts each day are subconscious/habitual thoughts that we don't hear in our physical ears. It is a tape playing in the background and over time we have tuned it out. What you need to know is that most of our decisions are made from our subconscious mind.

Here is the path:
1) you have a thought about something or someone (conscious or subconscious)
2) you have an emotion that follows the thought (negative thought = negative emotion)
3) the body responds to the emotion (eg. negative emotion = tension in the shoulders or clenching teeth)

Many of us aren't aware of the first 2 steps and even more people are disconnected from their body so they don't notice the signals. The best thing you can do is BREATH! Your breath is your link to the present moment. The breath is real! It is happening in each moment and it is your link to the present moment.

According to Dr. Fritz Perls, psychiatrist and founder of Gestalt therapy, "Fear is excitement without the breath". Think about it. When you are afraid you hold your breath or turn to a shallow breath. The only difference between fear and excitement is that you are holding your breath when you are afraid. Remember fear can be disguised as worry, anxiety, confusion, frustration, anger etc. The good news is all you need to do is BREATH!

It sounds so simple but it is so effective. I have been using this for many years in my own life through meditation and yoga but only recently discovered Dr Perls wisdom and it has changed my experience of fear in the last few weeks. I can separate myself from the fear when I remember that it is only the breath that makes it different than excitement.

FEAR is not real! Many believe it stands for FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL. If fear is not real and the only difference between fear and excitement is your breath, then what will you choose to do? How about taking 10 long deep breaths and see what happens. Imagine yourself giving the fear over to the Universe for healing and breathing yourself back into a sense of calm or even excitement. Excitement for life! Excitement for all the possibilities that you can create in your life when you let go of fear!