Be Well

by Eric Majeski

Eric Majeski (left) at Kirtan Fusion with Amy and the Ananda Bliss Tribe

Just Breathe.

My number one tip for improving your health, increasing
your energy, reducing stress, and overall wellness.

Just breathe.

But we all breathe all the time, right?

Yes. The beauty of the human body is that we are able to breathe involuntarily, or without being conscious or thinking about it, when we’re sleeping, eating, or going about our daily life.

I’m talking about voluntary or aware, conscious breathing, which stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system, or relaxation response.

What’s the difference?

During times of stress, we breathe involuntarily and our sympathetic nervous system is activated. For instance, when a car cuts you off on the highway, or you’re running late for an important meeting, or you’re nervous before a first date. Our heart rate rises, muscles become tense, and our breathing becomes rapid and shallow. This induces the ‘fight or flight’ response, or survival response, and produces adrenaline.

When we become conscious of our breath, we activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for our “rest and digest” system, which is where healing and regeneration occur.

How is this important to my health?

Well, our ‘fight or flight’ response is important and can save our life if we are in true danger, but is completely unnecessary when, say, the dog pees on the floor. Our body is wired with this response long ago when our evolutionary ancestors literally had more serious things to survive from, such as being chased by dinosaurs. In our fast-paced society, we trigger this response too often on a daily basis, and over time, this can contribute to weight issues, poor blood sugar, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, insomnia, and more serious illnesses like diabetes.

Conscious breath brings our awareness into the present moment, or the right here and now, and helps with digestion, detoxifying, eliminating, and building immunity.

"That sounds great but being ‘in the now’, or conscious breathing, isn’t going to pay my rent or mortgage payment."

Ha. True, but it will help you make better decisions in life. So when a problem presents itself in life, you can either evolve it, remove it, or accept it without emotion. Being emotional, whilst a wonderful part of the human experience, has never helped me make a decision in life. Life happens. I want to be free of anger, fear, sadness, etc ..., when making decisions, and conscious breathing helps make that possible.

So how does one learn to consciously, or “just breathe”?

Easy. The simplest breath pattern I know/teach is the 4-2-4-2 breath. Inhale for a count of 4, pause at the top of your breath for 2, exhale for a count of 4, and pause at the bottom for 2. Rinse, then repeat. You can do this in line at the grocery store, in the car stuck in traffic, while the kids are driving you up a wall. Anywhere, anytime. It’s a form of meditation, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it.

Thank you.

You’re welcome. Many blessings to everyone, and remember, just breathe.

Eric Majeski is an Intuitive Healer who helps empower people to lead their most authentic life, take responsibility for their health, and transform old, unproductive patterns and habits. For more information regarding a private session with Eric, contact him at eric.majeski@gmail.com