Shifting from a Mind-full state to a Mindful state

Shifting from a Mind-full state to a Mindful state

Most of us start our day with a calendar full of activities and probably would be involved in planning our day while brushing teeth or having a bath. Our mind is generally pre-occupied and is full of those tasks that we need to complete for the day. Probably there could be more activities in the calendar where we might be already feeling overwhelmed and become anxious about the extent of completion of tasks. We might be already worrying so much that sometimes we get a sick feeling and might feel panicked.

This is actually the time where we need to detach ourselves from the mind chatter and try to be realistic in scheduling. We should be ablet to fix in only those many tasks into the calendar that we can realistically complete. If we feel overwhelmed then we might not even be able to start the tasks at hand, and even if we start, we might not be able to focus 100% on the task. While carrying out the current task we might as well be thinking about another upcoming task and would not be able to do enough justice to the task at hand. Our minds get so filled with the tasks to complete that we become anxious and increase our stress levels. 

Mindfulness breathing techniques help us to detach, perform a course correction where required and re-anchor us to the reality at hand. These breathing techniques especially the triangle or box breathing will help us to replenish our brain with enough oxygen and allow us to use our pre-frontal cortex which the CEO of the brain. A regular practice of the breathing techniques will make it easy for us to shift from a mind-full state to a mindful state.

Technique

TRIANGLE BREATHING: A simple technique would be to inhale through nose for a count of 6, hold for a count of 6 and exhale through mouth for a count of 6. This is triangle breathing. We can repeat 6 times in this manner with 6-6-6 as ratio or some equivalent ratio where the count can be longer or shorter based upon individual's lung capacity and the state of mind in which the individual is at that time.

BOX BREATHING: Box breathing involves similar breathing with an additional ratio of holding the breathless state for an equal duration or count. This technique can be practiced by inhaling through nose for a count of 4, hold the breath for a count of 4, exhaling the breath through mouth for a count of 4 and hold for a count of 4 before the next inhalation happens.

CONCLUSION

Let us try to adopt and practice any of these breathing techniques regularly and arrive and stay in a peaceful, mindful state rather than being in a stressful mind-full state.