The Perfect Breath - HipSilver Contributor Richard La Plante

Do we want to spend our time in stress, or in a state of peace… in a condition of fight or flight, or in one of rest and rejuvenation? Things, including our bodies, wear out a lot faster if they are stressed, like a car being driven at full speed for days at a time, under pressure.

Something’s got to give; something’s got to break or break down unless we learn to take our foot off the pedal. We are releasing the pressure to find the natural state of equilibrium. Acknowledging that the body wants and needs to return to this place of rest, this state of calm becomes the self-healing organism.

The key to this is the breath. We are unlocking the nervous system. Slow and controlled. We bring our rate of respiration to six breaths per minute, using the diaphragm while breathing through the nose.

We are slowing the heart, lowering the blood pressure, and relaxing the neck, shoulders, face, and mind. Letting go and releasing the pent-up tension, the stress—no negative thoughts. Breathing, just breathing… six times in sixty seconds - five seconds in, five seconds out, like a circle, over and over again… It’s the perfect breath