Quench Emotional Fires with Moon Breath

Image Source: Max van den Oetelaar (Unsplash)

"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." —Thích Nhất Hạnh.

As I pen this post, I look back on all the times when things would heat up, and I never allowed myself to hold space and lean into something cooling. When I was a kid, running through the garden hose, plunging into the pool at Memorial Park, or diving belly down on the old Slip and Slide were time-honored ways to beat back the dog days of summer. The years passed, and these traditions quickly fell by the wayside. In today's installment of the Namaste Times, I discuss how we turn up the internal heat and then offer a simple way to bring pause and cool down before things go awry.

Our core body temperature of 98.6 degrees (an average) results from internal metabolism and eliminating toxins through the skin, lungs, digestive, and urinary tract - a simple primer on the physiology of the human body. However, I want to focus on another source - the emotional fire.

As a human race, we tend to pull the "emotional trigger" quickly in our personal and professional relationships. Always wanting to have the last word, never listening to another's perspective - all in the name of having to be right in our competitive society. I recall many wasted life points sitting in staff and union meetings where the membership debated an issue (to death), and screaming ensued, often without resolution. Some left with hurt feelings, and others with their "tails between their legs" - figuratively speaking. What always remained consistent was the fact we knew we were entering a contentious arena, and yet still chose to hop a ride on the emotional roller coaster. In the end, we were further apart than when these meetings began. Can you recall any experiences where you felt as I did? How can we quench our internal heat before it rages out of control like a fully involved structure fire?

In the yogic tradition, a way to clear the mind, body, and spirit is to use the breath as a source of clarity and anchoring. Today, I will offer a simple breathing practice (called Moon Breath) that will assist you in cooling down before entering a potentially unsettling situation.

Moon Breath

1.    Sit upright in a chair and feel your back, hips, legs, and feet as the Earth supports them. Keep your chin parallel to the floor.

2.    Place both hands on your thighs with palms facing down for grounding.

3.    Inhale and exhale through the nose for several breaths.

4.    Take the index finger of your right hand and close off the right nostril (you will breathe only through the left nostril).

5.    Close your eyes. As you inhale through the left nostril, fill your lower belly, middle chest, and upper chest.

6.    On the exhale, release the breath until your belly relaxes. Repeat for a minimum of ten cycles of breathing.

7.    Release the right hand and return to breathing through both nostrils.

You can also use Moon Breath whenever you feel a rekindling of your internal emotional fire. I am including a YouTube video where I will demonstrate this breath work. Until next time -

Namaste,

Tim

"Just for now, without asking how, let yourself sink into stillness. Just for now, lay down the weight you so patiently bear upon your shoulders. Feel the Earth receive you, and the infinite expanse of the sky grow even wider as your awareness reaches up to meet it. Just for now, allow a wave of breath to enliven your experience. Breathe out whatever blocks you from the truth. Just for now, be boundless, free, with awakened energy tingling in your hands and feet. Drink in the possibility of being who and what you really are – so fully alive that the world looks different, newly born and vibrant, just for now." -Danna Faulds.