A home in ourselves and a home in each other : abdomen breathing to calm strong emotions.

I have been reading a lovely meditation on belly breathing this afternoon from Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.. it is a tecnhnique we can use when panic or strong emotions come calling.. I did the practice earlier, and it was very soothing… To perform it we concentrate on breathing in and out in of our abdomen while saying the following ;

Breathing in, I bring all of my attention to my abdomen

breathing out, I bring all of my attention to my abdomen.. Abdomen, Abdomen.

Breathing in, I remain at the level of my abdomen

breathing out, I remain at the level of my abdomen….Level of abdomen, remaining.

Breathing in, I am aware only of my abdomen rising and falling

breathing out, I am aware only of my abdomen rising and falling.. Abdomen rising, abdomen falling

Breathing in, I am aware that my in breathis quick/shallow/uneven.

breathing out, I am aware that my out breath is quick/shallow/uneven… breathing in, breathing out

Breathing in, I am aware that my in breath is calming.

breathing out, I am aware that my out breath is calming.. calming….slowing

Breathing in, I am aware that my anger/despair/fear/distress is subsiding

breathing out, I am aware that my anger/despair/fear/distress is subsiding.. Strong emotion, subsiding.

Breathing in, I am aware that my anger/despair/fear/distress has passed

breathing out, I am aware that my anger/despair/fear/distress has passed.. Strong emotion, passed.

Breathing in, I am aware of my stability,

breathing out, I am aware of my stability.. Stability smiling.

This techniques counteracts the strong tendency we have to pull ourselves up and out of our body into our head when strong emotion hits.. it helps with regulation.. I could be done with hands on your tummy sitting in a chair or lying on the floor.. Feelings attended to is this way will rise and reach a peak and then pass on through within a fairly short amount of time.

Making a home for ourselves to be with the breath and attend to and dissipate feelings, means we have a place to rest inside, instead of defending, pushing away, attacking or running.. and as Thich reminds us in another piece of writing taking from his helpful book How To Love, we can only offer a home to others in our body and heart when we have found a home for ourselves and our deep feelings and reactions in our own body and heart.