Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath. Thich Nhat Hanh
Healing through breathing…
Here is one of the many techniques that can be practiced in awareness.
Box breathing
A Breathing technique to destress an agitated and tense mind to calm state and improve the mood.
A good practice for all and especially for those with depression, anxiety disorder and PTSD managing pains and insomnia.
The technique is simple and very effective.
1. Sit upright & Start with exhaling air out of your mouth slowly counting 1to 4.
2. Hold for four counts
3. Inhale deeply filling air section by section till it reaches the lungs & abdomen for four counts through your nose.
4.Again hold for four counts
5. Exhale for four counts from the abdomen and lungs slowly.
As a beginner choose a quiet place to begin this mindful practice. You can start by repeating for four times in one setting. Initially it is advisable to gradually take it up. In case you feel a little dizzy go back to your regular breathing and build it again.
The slow breathing and holding is the most important aspect which activates the para sympathetic system and thus helps reduce stress.
You can practice box breathing couple of sets in a day as needed to calm down.
Every time you connect With nature in any form You realize… You are part of something bigger That there is so much more Of spaces between the steps You acknowledge… The light of life and living The strength of the interconnects.
You become aware In feeling & sensing the mystical in you… And the potential of you in the universe How much you matter… You are part of something bigger!
Do you sense love for yourself Do you feel respect for yourself Do you feel your sense of self esteem
Do you feel a sense of self worth
What is your self worth tied to? Is it your education Your fancy degrees Your knowledge Your partner? Or your beauty? Your abilities? Is it to your achievements? Your skills? Your bank balance? Or is it to your designation Your children Your home? Your cars? Your phone?
If you have answered yes honestly to any of the above please think again Work on your independence Free your mind free your heart Free yourself from chains Practice unshackling Try to detach your self worth From material things. Others cannot always be around We are born as unique beings We are complete in every way No one can latch on to us Nor should we latch on to another Self awareness is crucial For true self confidence Self Confidence creates self esteem Self esteem develops self worth Value the life you have Understand your truth Explore your potential You are worthy.
Are we actually simplifying complexities or complicating simplicity?
Simplicity dwells in complexity,
And complexity is just tangled simplicity
In the designer’s intelligence.
Both dance hand in hand.
The meaning we choose to perceive,
The connect we choose to establish,
The intention we choose to deduce,
At a point in time
Can make it irrefutably simple
Or irrefutably complex to understand.
The simple truth holds all the complex potential
In an untangled arrangement.
The very arrangement is fodder for imagination
For continuity in ingenuity.
In the momentum of thoughts,
The complex gives birth
To new pathways in the patterns,
Promoting in the propelling
A curiosity in exploration
Of simplifying the confounding complexities.
History is replete with stories
Of complicating the simple truth
Of the being… in the boggling for answers
In refuting and relegating
Our beautiful ball of blue.
This Circle of nature was assumed
Once as square in shifting perspectives.
Meaning perceived in perspective dimensions,
Unfolding with the understanding of that era,
Moving on in time to deconstruct the construction
Of breaking down codes of assumption,
Of restructuring in the resurrection,
Of recognition and the refuting
To understanding the circles of yin and yang,
The dance of polarity,
The duality of nature,
Death and birth
As part of the circle of oneness
Of life and living.
The simple resides in the complex.
The complex is just simple turned upside down.
Perhaps as the humankind increased in numbers,
The simple was too profound
To answer the multitude of mulling thoughts.
In different directions
Due to the innate nature of man
To wonder in awe
And thus, the simple no longer seemed simple.
To solve the emerging enigmas,
Delving into the simple,
Intelligent design was questioned
In scientific temperament,
In philosophical propositions,
Until creativity created connections
And new expressions in the exploration
To deduce, deduct and denote
Infinite patterns of potential,
Making sense of uniqueness in the self-similarity
As the irrefutable simplicity of it all.
In the search for answers
To simplify the complex
Or to complicate the simple,
Many paths present themselves.
Every path is infinite in possibilities.
The question is are we ready to walk the path,
And what we evolve into while walking the path of choice.
In search of simple truths, we encounter the magnitude of complexities underlying simplicity. Simplicity elegantly serves itself, but the paradox of simplicity is in the complexities of finding meaning and accepting such simplicity as the ultimate truth of being.
Unconference, the word piqued my curiosity for a while until I checked it up on the internet, only to find that the idea has gained tremendous momentum across the globe.
The idea of un-structuring the ingrained structure seemed interesting to say the least, in creating spaces and possibilities to honour the learning.
Suffice to say recently, when I came across an Unconference event in the local newspaper I decided I must make a visit.
The venue of this Unconference was the well known Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts in Pune. I reached just in time for the proceedings to untold.
A customary registration ensued and I was greeted by a few volunteers with a relaxed warm and welcoming attitude. Clearly, the Unconference had started right there.
The word Conference kind of stiffens people up. There is a formal attitude, a thick air of competition to perform at their very best. There are fees and strict rules to adhere to. There are super busy organisers scurrying through and tension is writ large on their faces and their bodies as well are stressed out with expectations of the outcome of the event. Suited men and women whizz through looking super important. And yes there would be a Chief Guest of honour and a coterie of important people who need VIP handling… Adherence to their whims and fancies and most importantly their speeches which may or may not be of interest to any. But all must endure as to get up and leave is an offence to the speaker.
On the contrary here, there was a prevalent free-spirited feeling in the first place that all were in it together. The sense of community always takes time to build so I stood in that room with a small group of people waiting for the (informal introductory practice,) the opening circle.
The Opening Circle :
Someone from the group had taken an initiative to design a pretty pattern made of flowers in the centre of the space and light a lamp there.
A few introductory rounds later which turned out to be icebreakers with a few games to let loose and get into the flow.
There was a board set up with a mention of few rooms and a time slot to boot. The participants were encouraged to choose to attend or conduct workshops or just wander around and network.
A few people got up to mention their workshops and claim their slot. On a moment’s impulse although I was not exactly in the right attire for a dance workshop I simply decided to go with the flow and offered a Dance connection workshop by me.
Encouraged by a decent number of participants I let the moment take the lead. As I began teaching I witnessed the flow of the energy in the exchange.
I spoke about the dance, hold, frame and positioning and started introducing them to partner dancing and some basic steps. Bit by bit people shed inhibitions as they were getting tuned into the moves.
The moment strangers began to hold hands and face one another… for many, there was harmony to be found in the mirror imaging. For after all the lead and follow were simply an extension of each other dancing as one unit.
The energy in the room turned up a notch with the Achy Breaky Heart country cha sounds of Billy Ray Cyrus for company.
All started sensing the tuning in to the rhthymic expression of music & movement with their partners at that moment.
After the dance workshop I asked what they felt in that moment and here is what they shared immediately…
This week for me seems to be a traveling one, for work and pleasure and I am right now in a country where it is both common and fashionable to wear a lot of black. Can you guess which one?
And while you are at it, sharing this particular poem about black and white photography and I think I am co- relating to it literally here. Read on…
An ignition to life and living this world No matter what form or species And its the breath that is left Behind that signifies the exit.
How important is this breath. That we all take for granted Gratitude and thankfulness To this driving force of life To nature for the air we breathe.
How important is this breath For in the way of the breath Lies the way of our health. For in the depth of breathing We can integrate our body, mind & spirit We can sense the synergy of being We can awaken our true potential. We can become aware of the infinite potential. For the truths of life, is in the inhale and exhale.
In the journey of life At one point or the other In arriving to acknowledge our truths Comes a realization of our Oneness Of how we are mere living fractals of life and longings We are simply waves of light frequencies of resonance & dissonance Dancing to the tunes Of the Ocean of Oneness
Savvy Raj 
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