Mental Stillness and Mental Health part 4

Welcome to part 4 of Mental Stillness for Mental.

I will assume you have read parts 1, 2 and 3, and got some value from them and so are now reading part 4. However if you have not read parts 1,2 and 3, that is okay to as you will still gain value from this article as it describes more techniques shared and experienced at the Talk Mental Stillness for Mental Health at Yogific London in Feb 2018, www.yogific.com.

The next technique I'd like to share with you follows on from the Conscious breathing I mentioned in the Part 1 and the Ahh breath mentioned in part 3.

Here I introduce you to another breathing technique, I call the Hissing Breath. Have you every heard a snake hiss? We are going to make a similar sound as we breath out. To make a Hissing sound put your teeth together and push the out breath against the teeth as you hiss breathing out with your breath going to the ground. This is a very powerful breath and good for releasing and balancing intense high energy emotions.

We will now do 3 hissing breaths followed by 3 conscious breaths. It is important to do 3 conscious breaths after doing 3 hissing breaths, it helps to settle what the hissing breath has brought up.

Breath in and hiss out the out breath.

Deep breath in and hiss out the out breath.

Deep breath in and his out the out breath.

Now lets observe three of our breaths,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Breathing in and breathing out.

Well done.

How do you feel?

Do you feel better than when you started or worse?

Has it brought something up?

Feed back received was,

"I feel lighter."

"I feel angry."

" I feel tension in my shoulders."

"I feel emotional, may cry."

" I feel a release but not sure of what."

This was great to hear as feeling lighter often occurs, though one did not realise one was heavy or weighed down. This is usually a release of something that was in our unconscious.

Feeling angry, being a different sensation some where in the body like tension and to feeling emotional is also common. In these cases typically what has happened is that the hissing breath as shifted stagnant energy, suppressed/unexpressed emotions usually angry, frustration, annoyance or irritation all that have the root emotion anger.

If this happens the best thing to do is to repeat the above and it will help to clear these states of being to being more balanced and present. You many need to repeat it once or twice or 3 times, and you will start to find a release and relief. Some times it brings to mind an incident and then we know what caused these emotions and are now choosing to release them unconsciously.

This is a great techniques for adults and children of all ages to release anger. It is rare in childhood to have been taught how to release anger in an appropriate and healthy way. This is not the fault of our parents as were are all victims of victims. Using the hissing breath and teaching it to our children is a good way to change and shift this cycle so that we carry less anger within ourselves. We usually experience extremes of anger, suppression to rage and not much in between. The hissing breath is an appropriate and healthy way to express anger from the past and that of the present, it does not harm oneself, it does not harm another and it does not harm the environment, hence it is safe. Please not hear though, if you start to feel light headed, stop and do the conscious breaths as described in part 1 until you feel more balanced and present. If you have high bp or are feeling ungrounded please do the exercising in parts 1, 2 &3 before you do the exercises in this article.

I trust you have found this articles and the others in the series of Mental Stillness for mental health of value and benefit.

Any of these practices done with the intention to still the mind have physiological affects on our body affecting us mentally, emotionally and physically.

1. Bringing our attention to our breath, doing nothing else, slows down our breath, which brings a feeling of calm and peace and quietens the mind.

2. As the breath slow down we move from the sympathetic nervous system, also know as the stress response or the fight or flight response, into the parasympathetic nervous system, which is also know as rest and digest. This enable us to sleep better which improves mental health.

3. As the breath slows down any anxiety/depression were are feeling reduces as the body is enabled to balance our neurochemistry.

4. As we experience these benefits we make better decisions with improved clarity of thought.

5. We respond more and react less.

6. Being in the present moment, right here right now benefits all aspects of your life, relationships and your health.

So I invite you to incorporate one or more of these techniques into your daily life and see how your life improves, even if you are not looking for any change.

I invite you to sit down a new every time, every day, as you are a different person today than you were yesterday, so approach your practice in the same way, with no expectations, only the intention to still your mind, to be in the present moment right here right now.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me or to comment below.

Wishing all peace in your hearts,

Dhriti

Please keep yourself as you do these techniques, if you don't feel good doing them then stop. These techniques are to a replacement from any therapy or medication you may be taking for mental health issues.