Today's Bumper Sticker of the Week: Breathe.

Need I say more? 

Probably not, but I can't help myself...

When I tell a client he/she should breathe, she usually says, "I am." Clearly she's correct, because obviously, all animals need to breathe in order to stay alive, and there she is, sitting in front of me talking. 

But there are different levels of breathing. By instinct and mechanics our bodies make sure we get enough air to survive. But beyond that, we can to a great degree control how much we let ourselves breathe. People who have eating disorders often don't let themselves breathe fully and deeply. They are, to one degree or another, holding their breath.

I understand it. I mean, to let ourselves breathe fully, we have to let go of holding rigidly to our bodies; we have to stay out of the way of our lungs and ribs and chest. We have to trust that our bodies know what they are doing, and that our bodies don't need us micromanaging their every move. Also, and this is probably the hardest thing about it, if we breathe fully, we are more relaxed, and if we are more relaxed we feel things more- emotionally and physically. 

Of course, the problem is, if we don't let ourselves breathe, we become tight and constricted- in all ways. I'm not saying its easy. At times when I've had to go to the dentist or have blood drawn and the tech says "just relax and breathe" I have to remind myself to do that- that if won't put me in any danger to let go and breathe, and that it actually makes things go much easier! But if we become anxious or afraid, often our first response is to stop breathing. It's part of the fight or flight thing.

So now we can all practice letting ourselves breathe for the week :) 

Comments

[Super Egg]

i remember when i was little (if there was such a thing) i often felt like i couldn't catch my breath. in elementary school i used to try to force myself to yawn, thinking it would kind of take over and force me to get some air. and it did work for that purpose. when i grew a little more i wondered why i was so dependent on my yawns for air. so i looked up what a yawn was, and it talked about my brain needing air at the time of a yawn. so i thought maybe that was the problem, that my brain was just extra needy. now as a grown up, i just know i can't get enough air. but i don't do anything about it really. it doesn't surprise me either. recently at the market i noticed i ran over my foot with my cart full of large items and my baby. and it was as if i didn't even care. but i did notice, so my guess is that those kinds of things have been going on for a long time.

[PTC]

Oh no, more feelings!!! No wonder why I hold my breath. ;)

[Courtney]

I haven't read the post, other than the first line. I don't need to plus I'm on vacation and don't want to spend too long online. I LOVE the bumper sticker this week (I would actually put that one on my car). :)

I'll get back to reading the blog on Wednesday when I get back. I've been missing you/ the blog!

[Courtney]

haha I just read the rest of your blog and no, you didn't need to say more for me. :) But I couldn't help reading it quickly anyway. Funny cause I get told to breathe sometimes but never at the dentist. I've spent many a days in the dentist (I broke my two front teeth when I was little- a bunch of times so I spent a lot of time getting them fixed and am really not nervous there). But (I mean AND) in therapy sessions, I do need to be told to breathe! :)

[Laura]

So often in therapy sessions, my therapist ends up saying, "Okay, pause, you need to start breathing." Often, I won't even notice that I'm feeling tense until I realize that she's right - I am breathing more shallowly than normal.