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Breathwork: why oxygen is our life

6/23/2020

3 Comments

 
Before we go any further, pause what you are doing. Put down your coffee, set your phone aside, put your music on pause.

Breath in - deep - right into your core. Expand your belly and inhale.
Hold your breath at the top for a moment and then release your breath out of your mouth - slowly.

And again for three rounds.

Well done. How do you feel?

Physically, we understand that breathing in oxygen keeps us alive but breathing is more than that - our breath is LIFE. More than simply breathing - life is existence. And a full existence requires full breath.
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What does that mean?

When you focus on your breath and breathe deeply, you are activating your parasympathetic nervous system - the system in your body in charge of slowing your heart rate and lowering your blood pressure - which helps create a feeling of calm.

​Most of the time, especially in our North American culture, there is another system in our body that rules the roost more often than not: our fight or flight system (our sympathetic nervous system). This important physiological system directs our body’s rapid and involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations. It causes a flash of hormones to boost our body’s alertness by increasing blood flood and sending our heart rate soaring. While we don’t often have to outrun a predator like our ancestors did, our fight or flight response still kicks in big time in our day to day - when we have a close call in traffic; when we receive a bill in the mail that we aren’t sure how we are going to pay; when someone makes us angry and we feel we need to protect ourselves; when we have an impending deadline or too many things on the “to do” list for the day; when someone we love gets sick or hurt. There are any number of reasons that make our pulse race and our adrenaline kick-in. Add caffeine on top of all of this - which causes increased heart rate and blood flow - mimicking the products of our fight or flight response - and without realizing it, we can live in this state for hours, days and weeks at a time without much calm.
There are enormous physical ramifications of living in this state but the emotional, mental and spiritual ones are even greater. In this state, we protect, defend, worry, run and avoid. We become laser focused on ourselves (and our ego) in order to keep ourselves “safe” (emotionally, mentally, physically). We act out of instinct instead of thoughtful reflection. We feel anxiety instead of curiosity, fear rather than peace, anger instead of joy. Our LIFE suffers.

A FULL life is one of LOVE, abundance, kindness, service above self, relationships, laughter, joy, happiness and everything that is inherently good. And our breath is completely and intricately connected with these experiences of life.
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Think of a time in which you felt anger, frustration, anxiety or worry. How did your body feel? For this coach, I have learned exactly how my body responds. My body becomes tense, my shoulders and jaw rigid. Chills set in, followed by a headache and dehydration. I stop breathing deeply.

Now think back to a time you felt peaceful. Maybe it was sitting on a beach listening to the waves. Maybe it was watching your kids play or walking and talking with a friend or partner. Perhaps it was while you were on your own in nature, or listening to a favorite song. When you think of that moment, notice your breathing. Has it slowed? Does your body feel more relaxed? Your mind more at ease?

When we stop breathing deeply, our LIFE suffers. So do our relationships, work, and joy. When we pause, focus on breathing deeply and bring attention inward to what we are experiencing - we can see more clearly and respond in a healthier manner.

By learning to practice breathing, and to focus on it in times of turbulence, anxiety, worry, stress, fear etc., we gain the power to respond better, to BE better, to LIVE better. We gain the ability to choose calm over fear, peace over panic, acceptance over judgement, openness over defense. And this is a PRACTICE - as all things are at RUNClub. Just like we must commit to our playwork in order to see improvement in our running, we must commit to practicing our breathing in order to grow and learn. And we will not be perfect at it - any of us. But committing ourselves to the PRACTICE is what changes everything and you are here because you are committed. You already get this. You are practicing and growing and we are so proud of you.

As we head into this new week, let’s continue to practice together, specifically, our breath. A few suggestions for practice:

  • Start and end your day with a few minutes of focused, intentional, deep and deliberate breathing. Shift your attention inward and simply notice what you are feeling, thinking and experiencing. Try to look at it objectively and with acceptance and then let it go.
  • Try to pause throughout the day and take notice of your body and your breathing. Pause and reset your breathing if you find yourself taking shallow breaths, shoulder tense or body rigid.
  • When you begin to feel anxiety, worry, stress, fear, frustration, anger etc. - if you can - pause what you are doing, wait to respond (verbally especially) and take three intentional deep breaths (more if you need to) and then reassess.

When we learn to control our breathing, our lives are better. And when we practice together we are better together. Thank you for being open and willing to practice - when we change ourselves for the better, we can change the world for the better. (There’s a lot of “betterness”).
Love,

Coach Candace
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3 Comments

The Nuance Of Language and How It Contributes To Our Health By coach jo berry

6/17/2020

1 Comment

 
The famous civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez, once said, “Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” At its core, language is the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other. Most people will view language as ‘ just the way that we talk to each other.’ Language, however, extends waaaaay beyond just what is spoken ( and written) . It is the words we put out and the interaction between two that is literally the landscape of our lives. throw nonverbal communication in there and this leads us to see how language truly does reflect the speaker.
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Why is the ‘ nuance of language’ so important at RUNClub? So many reasons. The most important is to truly study ( together) how our language creates health or disease in ourselves and in our relationships ( all of them). Yes, language “ IS” us and language “IS” life.

Learning about ourselves (or better yet, unlearning) gives us an outstanding opportunity to shift into healthier places. This learning (and unlearning) never stops in our lifetime. Communication is an acquired skill and a huge part of the puzzle to our outer landscape. Our language reveals to us two things: Why our lives are working and/or why they are NOT. RUNClub tribe, you are open to all the deep dives that can make a difference for ourselves as individuals; as a community and as osmosis out to our friends, families, coworkers, and the world. Here we can spend time in our emotional landscape to make a big difference in our health and the health of others.

We all have the capability to exhibit language that vibrates at the highest frequency. By ‘practicing’ reliably and consistently this ‘human skill’ of language changes everything. Just like some of us can barely make toast and others have perfected crème brûlée, there is a vast continuum of knowledge and mastery over language (and body language as well). Shall we keep leaning into the Creme Brulee of healthy living? I say YES!

Gentle reminder: Our emotional fitness is not about criticizing ourselves, or each other (ever). This is a safe place for us to “move” into healthier realms, explore, learn and grow to enhance our health and wellbeing. Becoming more & more ‘awake’ is a super fun, playful and wonderful way to live. Here are a few suggestions for this week's emotional fitness playwork.
​
  1. Listening (no words!) | The greatest gift we can give anyone? Drum roll: Listening. Start to watch yourself and your ability (or inability) to listen. There will be sharing on this in our HUB.

  2. Useful Talk | Blaming, criticizing, complaining, and being in a victim mentality can be described well as “useless talk.” These energies deplete us of our energy and wire our brains in sub-optimal ways. Use useful talk instead. Try going complaint free, or even removing certain words from your vocabulary. ( eg - the nots, nevers, nos, - words that are scarcity words).

  3. Word Choice | Research shows that having the ability to make word choices produces much higher (and healthier) outcomes. Instead of saying “I should/ would/could’ swapping it to “I get to”, “I will”, “I am” (oh so much more on I AM statements coming)! Watch out for scarcity sentences like: “I can’t afford that / I have no time (oh boy, more on this too) and I am soooo busy (let’s not glamorize busy anymore).

  4. High vibrational words vs Low vibrational words | High vibrational: gratitude, blessings, thank yous, compliments, kind words. Low vibrational: swearing, “but’s”, “strong opinions”, and of course, “gossiping”.

Now all of this being said, an important question: are we all perfect in the nuances and behaviours of language? Answer - uh, no ! We are human. We slip, slide and slip again. Our goal together is to slip, slide less and less through “practice”, watch all the magic and miracles that happen in our lives. The goal: more health, more happiness, more calm, more peace and living a big healthy juicy life! We are BETTERTOGETHER. Thank you for practicing together ! See you INSIDE the HUB - our place to connect, share, learn and grow.

​-- Love, Coach Jo
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • ABOUT US
    • How It Works >
      • The Most Important Things to Know
      • Our Approach - Distance & Pace Groups
      • When We Run and What it Costs
      • F.A.Q's
    • Meet Our Founder: Jo Berry
    • MEET OUR COACHES
    • Stories & Testimonials
  • RUN WITH US
    • 2022 SPRING CLINIC !!
    • Membership & Pricing
  • Blog
  • MEMBER LOGIN
  • CONTACT US
  • COVID Safety
  • 2022 SPRING CLINIC !!
  • 2022 SPRING CLINIC !!
  • 2022 SUMMER CLINIC !!
  • 2022 WINTER CLINIC !!