Four-Corner Breathing

The Now & Zen blog today provided a lovely relaxing breath technique called 'Four Corner Breathing' which comes from Lucy Jo Palladine, Phd.D., psychologist and attention expert, and author of "Find Your Focus Zone".

If you find yourself loosing focus in your day, daydreaming too much or just unable to keep your mind focused on the task at hand .. try this technique to "changing your state".

Four Corner Breathing uses an outer focal point (which has four sides .. like a mirror or door frame) with deep, rhythmic breathing .. to lower adrenaline, restore balance and refocus your attention.

Four-Corner Breathing

1. Find an object nearby that has four corners — a box, your monitor, or even this page.

2. Start at the upper-left-hand corner and inhale for 4 counts.

3. Turn your gaze to the upper-right-hand corner and hold your breath for 4 counts.

4. Move to the lower-right-hand corner. Exhale for 4.

5. Now shift your attention to the lower-left-hand corner. Tell yourself to relax and smile.

Repeat 3 to 5 times, or as often as you like .. another great little Spot Meditation to add to your toolbox!

Bear Grip for Anger

From an old articleout of Om Magazine a yoga posture call the "Bear Grip" whish is said to help with anger issues .. "helps balance body and mind, help to eliminate anger and maintain a sense of inner calm". I thought this might be another useful addition to your toolbox for life :

* Sit with a straigh spine and begin to breath slowly in and out through your nose.
* Lift your right hand in front of your chest, with your elbow out to the side and your palm facing away from the body
* Bend the tips of your fingers.
* Lift the left hand with the elbow out to the side, bend the tips of the gingers and clasp your hands together.
* As you inhale - keep the fingers clasped and gently pull your arms away from each other creating resistance.
* As you exhale - keep the fingers clasped and stop pulling.
* Repeat 10 times, keeping the elbows lifted and the lower abdominal muscles engaged.

.. when I went in search of a suitable picture to put with this entry .. I found myself at Anmolmehta's site (which I visit often, and would recommend for the loads of information, free stuff, and easy to understand yoga and meditation instruction). Anmol lists the bear grip as a practice under Mudra. Such a small world (hmm .. again).

Red Light (Spot Meditation)

This is posted from the June Edition of our Quiet Mind E-Newsletter .. it's a free monthly newsletter .. providing some great articles, news and views on meditation from across the globe.

The Red Light Spot Meditation:

Recently I woke up to the fact that I was rushing! Rushing late to a class, ignoring the warning signs and blind to the world around me as I drove a little faster to get somewhere. I could feel the rising panic ..

.. that sinking feeling that I had failed, was going to be terribly late, that participants would think badly of me .. and that I would be a tangled mess of tension on arrival!

At some point on the journey however I stopped .. correctly I stopped at a red stop light .. and the thought arose "what is the point of rushing?".

Suddenly it seemed very clear that there was little point in winding myself up about potential lateness, when there was in fact a very real potential to have a car accident, alongside the physical and mental manifestation of the stress .. which I could suddenly feel in my body and mind. How silly to be racing to teach a meditation class .. when I was stressing myself out!

The realisation occured mid Stop Sign .. and took me back to Meditation 101! I purposefully took a couple of slower, deeper breaths and rested my gaze on the bright red light ahead. And when the light changed to green I took another very purposeful inhalation .. and calmly moved forward on my journey.

At each subsequent stop light (and it was rather interesting how I seemed to hit every single light along the way) .. I took the moment provided to .. check in with my body, breath into my shoulders, feel them fall, releasing my body into the seat, allowing the tension to drain away, resting my breath and gaze on just the stop sign ..

I began to really noticed how different my journey now felt. Whether it was the breathing or the change in my intention (to stop rushing) .. I definitely altered the flow of my journey .. and the flow of my mind.

I didn't arrive late to class at all .. in fact, I found a car spot right outside the venue, appreciated the beautiful smells eminating from the local korean restaurant, and calmly flowed into my talk without any residual tension or lack of focus.

Shifting our focus inward when we notice stress, allows us to rest in this deeper stillness that is always within. From this place, time seems to stop and slow .. and when we return to our journey or tasks we do so from this deeper place, with a broader view of ourselves and the world.

This doorway inward is always there for us .. it arises in every moment, we just don't normally notice. Meditation shows us how to notice ..

Sign up for our Email Newsletter