The Mindful Breath

Today’s entry, from page 27 in The Balanced Mind -A Mental Health Journal- Exploratory Prompts and Effective Practices by Carolyn Mehlomakulu, LMFT-S, ATR-BC is about using mindful breathing to build awareness and shift emotions. My current mood and stress level are a bit off, that may be an understatement. My anxiety has been high recently, it continues to be elevated, but my coping is getting better. During my meditation today I was constantly interrupted by worries, fears, and concerns revolving around the lack of money we currently have. Our finances are worse than precarious, most days I don’t even understand how we manage to eat each week. It’s scary, I know that without my parents paying part of the rent we would be homeless. Granted, they pay part of the rent so that they have a place to escape to in Florida

After my meditation I felt far more calm and slightly more in control of my emotions. Meditation does not solve my problems, but instead gives me the space to decompress and just let it all go. I started using zen koans in the Waking Up app., and they really are profound! Mindfulness and Zen practices give me the space to just stop and exist without all the problems. My mind clarifies, my emotions settle, and my stress levels plummet afterward. Something I am realizing through meditation is that I have a habit of viewing things as them happening to me because I feel like I have no control. However, meditation proves I can and do take control, I just need to take that beyond the meditation pillow, so to speak. Each breath is a new start, a new beginning in consciousness. I can stop and recognize this to help me center, ground, and get back into my body so that I am not stuck in my head worrying and being afraid. We are moments of consciousness arising, and it is possible to renew with each breath.