FATHERLY ADVICE
Upon entering the restaurant, she immediately folded her small brown seven-year-old fingers around the piece of red and white striped confectionery, quickly removed the cellophane wrapper and popped the “delicacy?” into her small mouth. Shortly after, the same small hand tapped her mother’s arm coupled with these words, “I swallowed it,” – not the words a parent wants to hear after a child has placed a piece of hard candy in their mouth. The parents quickly sprang into action. I sat and watched with certainty that she was okay. After all she said, “I swallowed it,” which was an indication she wasn’t choking. After a mad dash to the restroom and water, the crisis passed or so we thought.
Shortly after being seated, the imp again taps her mom’s arm and with a quivering voice announces, “I feel it!” pointing to her small chest. Another mad dash to the restroom ensued and after a few minutes, parents and a visibly upset child returned armed with bread, water, and ginger ale. Upon my suggestion, the father takes her outside to walk for a few minutes. He removed her from the scene, helped the offending object move if stuck and calmed her down as only a father can do sometimes.
When they returned to the table, he continued his calming speech, “… when in an upsetting situation, if you can control your breathing, you can control your thoughts, if you can control your thoughts, you can control your reactions.” I distilled those words to “use your body to control your body.”
One of the most important things we all do on average 21,000 times a day is inhaling and exhaling. Breathing is an automatic function of the body, but one can deliberately control it.
The dad took the opportunity to teach his daughter the life sustaining lesson of mindful breathing which can reduce negative emotion and stimulate a change in mood and cognitive thoughts. Of course, the science of breathing didn’t matter to the little one – she only knew that the feeling of candy being stuck in her chest had passed. Breathing impacts the brain and the body.
I began practicing yoga about 15 years ago. My initial motivation for the practice was the stretching and exercising component and that goal was accomplished. More than anything yoga has taught me (it is a learned behavior) mindful breathing. It is a tool that I employ daily to manage mood, stress, emotions, pain, sleep disturbances, physical activity, and eating. In other words, mindful breathing has permeated most aspects of my life.
I wish my mother or daddy had taught me the practice when I was seven years old.
PONDER THIS THOUGHT--- The best course of action may be a pause, a deep breath, and a moment of recentering.
Sometimes the best thing we can do is to breathe and pause. ❤️