AYOE 09 / April Fools, Geriatric Moments and Mindful Breathing

Happy April friends!

I hope you didn’t get tricked too badly for good ol’ April Fools - seriously what a wild holiday.

I don’t mind the milder, funny jokes, but some people get downright mean with it. And what a nightmare if you’re struggling with nervous system dysregulation 😬

I am fully aware that I sound like a cranky old lady, but since I’m super focused on the nervous system at present, I’m seeing everything through that lens. It’s honestly a little alarming to see how much of what we consider “normal” in life is actually pretty dysregulating.

But I digress.

I’m not showing up here to have the equivalent of a “get off my lawn” moment. 😅

I don’t have a long update for you this week, but I’m happy to report that my April experiment is off to a good start.

It’s interesting (but not completely unexpected) that I’ve found myself being more aware of my breathing the past few days. I’ve caught myself breathing more shallowly and made in the moment corrections, which seems like a good start to not only improving my mindfulness, but also training my body to breathe in supportive ways when I’m not paying attention as well 🤞🏼

My Daily Routine

I touched on this in my last email, but I wanted to give a bit more detail for anyone who may want to give breathwork a try too.

To keep things simple and hopefully minimize resistance, I’m doing a short practice when I first wake up (before getting out of bed) and when I get into bed for the night.

I’m also setting an alarm to remind me to do a short practice after I eat lunch. I can already tell the afternoon practice may be the least consistent based on my call schedule and my tendency to forget to each lunch 😬 (Hopefully the alarm will help!)

I’m only utilizing 3 different breathing techniques (again in an effort to keep things simple)

• Breath of Fire (in the AM or when I need a boost of energy - I’m being cautious about this one because I don’t want to cause myself to get stuck in sympathetic energy and my nervous system is not yet super flexible.)

• Ocean Breathing (ujjayi)- balanced inhale and exhale (in for 4, out for 4)

• Ocean Breathing (ujjayi) - lengthened exhale (in for 4, out for 8)

Easy peasy! (I hope 😂)

I hope your April is off to a good start so far. If you’re doing an experiment this month, I’d love to hear what it is. You can reply/comment and tell me all about it 😊

Talk soon,

xo - Nic