Breathing in Odd Places

Breathing in Odd Places

I’ve been told from specialists and alternative healers alike, that I will suffer from stomach problems my whole life. I’m just one of those people that is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Salmonella poisoning was obviously not something I planned, but to make matters worse, after my colonoscopy test the doctor revealed to me that I had what looked like the beginning of Colitis. Colitis is an old man’s disease characterized by stomach ulcers. Gee, Great!

Staying away from heavy and greasy foods, plus alcohol and who knows what else is only part of the battle. Apparently stress and eating while angry or depressed can also cause one’s stomach to bubble, bloat and revolt. So to take matters into my own hands, I began looking at some alternative healing techniques. No, that doesn’t mean stirring a cauldron containing a newts eye, 3 dodo bird feathers and fairy dust, then drinking the cup between yoga poses in the middle of the forest. Simple alternative healing to me includes anything that may not be endorsed by big, multimillion health care corporations or pharmaceutical companies. Most of the time, alternative healing only requires mind over matter and the sooner you start the better off you are. Simply listening to triggers and preventing the effect before the cause pricks you is key.

Something I stumbled upon- a trick that really works and one that our great, great ancestors even knew about is called…wait, drum roll please…Breathing. Ok, so now everybody say it with me now, “Breathing”.  Sad thing is, I think were just plainly too busy to remember to do this sometimes!

Just breathe! Well, we all breathe and I can already hear the mocking. “Oh come on who needs to be reminded to breathe for crikey’s sake? Is this some sick and twisted blonde joke?”

No my friends, this isn‘t a joke, breathing is extremely vital to not only reducing stress, but eliminating stress altogether which is the number one cause to most health issues in our society.

Most stomach ulcers are caused by stress which are caused by an abundance of pent up emotions such as fear, anger and sadness which all lead to anxiety, which unfortunately functions through a feed back loop of worrying about becoming afraid, angry or sad. So nip it in the bud I say! Instead of fretting over the little things, which in essence are the usual triggers to anxiety, just breathe.

But there is a catch. Its not just breathing, its deep relaxed breathing and truly remembering to do this in situations that may cause one to become irate and most importantly, sticking to it.

Try it next time. Instead of impatiently rocking from left foot, to right foot while waiting in the check out line, just simply begin breathing. Inhale, expand your chest, then exhale out of your mouth, then repeat.

Waiting at the red light in 35C weather in a car without A/C, my first instinct is to bang my head on the horn and cry out for an ice cap…but then what? Well, I’ll just take a deep breathe, in through my nose, count to three, then exhale, and repeat.

Think you can try it?