Day 12 Progress

Hello. I want tell where I am today from beginning of this program.I can see many changes in my recovery: my pain in back and leg clearly reduced.I am more confident with walking ,sitting and drive much more than before. I quit tablets and try to be active more and more.That what helps me to get better sleep.I am struggling a bit with anxiety and low self worth.I think it is because I am digging deeply in my past with journaling and concentrating on negative things , it is more difficult to come back to my previous self or try to think positive. Is it usual on the way to healing?Or maybe anxiety replaces feeling?What I try to do is to calm myself, saying that is fine how I feel,try not to resist to my feelings and be kind to myself. Anyway I am coming back step by step to normal life, staying less in bed. Next week I am planning to come back to work for couple or three days And everybody who are on the way of healing I wish not to give up, it doesn't matter how difficult it is.When I look back to two weeks ago and now I see how far I went and am looking forward what is waiting for me in the future.Take care

 

Hi, Lina. I congratulate you on your progress in the SEP. Going back to work a few days a week will be a big step forward for you. If you find it difficult, or worry about it, practice deep breathing. Here are some of the benefits of deep breathing:

Breathing correctly is not only important for living longer but also to have a good mood and keep performing at your best. Let us look at the benefits of deep breathing and why you should make it part of your everyday living.

1. Breathing Detoxifies and Releases Toxins
Your body is designed to release 70% of its toxins through breathing. If you are not breathing effectively, you are not properly ridding your body of its toxins i.e. other systems in your body must work overtime which could eventually lead to illness. When you exhale air from your body you release carbon dioxide that has been passed through from your bloodstream into your lungs. Carbon dioxide is a natural waste of your body's metabolism.

2. Breathing Releases Tension
Think how your body feels when you are tense, angry, scared or stressed. It constricts. Your muscles get tight and your breathing becomes shallow. When your breathing is shallow you are not getting the amount of oxygen that your body needs.

3. Breathing Relaxes the Mind/Body and Brings Clarity
Oxygenation of the brain reducing excessive anxiety levels. Paying attention to your breathing. Breathe slowly, deeply and purposefully into your body. Notice any places that are tight and breathe into them. As you relax your body, you may find that the breathing brings clarity and insights to you as well.

4. Breathing Relieves Emotional Problems
Breathing will help clear uneasy feelings out of your body.

5. Breathing Relieves Pain.
You may not realize its connection to how you think, feel and experience life. For example, what happens to your breathing when you anticipate pain? You probably hold your breath. Yet studies show that breathing into your pain helps to ease it.

6. Breathing Massages Your Organs
The movements of the diaphragm during the deep breathing exercise massages the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas. The upper movement of the diaphragm also massages the heart. When you inhale air your diaphragm descends and your abdomen will expand. By this action you massage vital organs and improves circulation in them. Controlled breathing also strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.

7. Breathing Increases Muscle
Breathing is the oxygenation process to all of the cells in your body. With the supply of oxygen to the brain this increases the muscles in your body.

8. Breathing Strengthens the Immune System
Oxygen travels through your bloodstream by attaching to haemoglobin in your red blood cells. This in turn then enriches your body to metabolise nutrients and vitamins.

9. Breathing Improves Posture
Good breathing techniques over a sustained period of time will encourage good posture. Badbody posturewill result of incorrect breathing so this is such an important process by getting your posture right from early on you will see great benefits.

10. Breathing Improves Quality of the Blood
Deep breathing removes all the carbon-dioxide and increases oxygen in the blood and thus increases blood quality.

11. Breathing Increases Digestion and Assimilation of food
The digestive organs such as the stomach receive more oxygen, and hence operates more efficiently. The digestion is further enhanced by the fact that the food is oxygenated more.

12. Breathing Improves the Nervous System
The brain, spinal cord and nerves receive increased oxygenation and are more nourished. This improves the health of the whole body, since the nervous system communicates to all parts of the body.

13. Breathing Strengthen the Lungs
As you breathe deeply the lung become healthy and powerful, a good insurance against respiratory problems.

14. Proper Breathing makes the Heart Stronger.
Breathing exercises reduce the workload on the heart in two ways. Firstly, deep breathing leads to more efficient lungs, which means more oxygen, is brought into contact with blood sent to the lungs by the heart. So, the heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver oxygen to the tissues. Secondly, deep breathing leads to a greater pressure differential in the lungs, which leads to an increase in the circulation, thus resting the heart a little.

15. Proper Breathing assists in Weight Control.
If you are overweight, the extra oxygen burns up the excess fat more efficiently. If you are underweight, the extra oxygen feeds the starving tissues and glands.

16. Breathing Boosts Energy levels and Improves Stamina

17. Breathing Improves Cellular Regeneration

18. Breathing Elevates Moods
Breathing increase pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in the brain to elevate moods and combat physical pain

How to Breathe properly?

In order to breathe properly you need to breathe deeply into your abdomen not just your chest. Even in the old Greek and Roman times the doctors recommended deep breathing, the voluntary holding of air in the lungs, believing that this exercise cleansed the system of impurities and gave strength. This certainly is of great value to you in your work in the world. Breathing exercises should be deep, slow, rhythmic, and through the nose, not through the mouth. The most important parts of deep breathing has to be regulating your breaths three to four seconds in, and three to four seconds out.

1.Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 52.Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy.3.Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5.

Schedule your deep breathing exercise just as you would schedule important business appointments. Set aside a minimum of two 10 minute segments of time everyday although you can begin with two five minutes segments if you prefer.

Honoring yourself enough to schedule time with yourself is the first step in mastering stress. Tend your relationship with yourself and your relationship with life and with others will be enriched and deepened accordingly. Remember to share with your children and all your friends and loved ones so that they too can reap its untold benefits.

 

Yes Lina78, I think this is normal. Part of the distraction system kicking in. And as you say, anxiety was identified by Dr. Sarno as a "substitute symptom." Anxiety is tough because it is hard to observe it and not get caught. Walt's breathing booster is well placed. Breathing, deeper slower breathing is known to calm the mind.

I enjoyed reading your progress so far. You've come a long way, and you are learning so much. For example:

I have been practicing mindfulness and self-compassion for 20 years, and I could not put it better myself. Bravo! You are doing the core work here. It takes practice, just like developing a muscle.

Andy B.

 

Thanks a lot everyone for replies ! Thanks ,Walt for such good and long info about breathing. I needed this and will try to practise more breayhing .See you later very soon

 

Hi, Lina. I'm glad that my post about breathing was helpful to you. It really is amazing... every web site or book I read about anxiety or relaxation puts deep breathing as the number one thing to do. It really does work, as you can see. I combine deep breathing with positive thinking or a mantra that I feel good about everything including myself. It really works best when you inflate the belly as you breathe in through the nose for a count of about 5, hold it for 5 while opening the mouth and filling the lungs with air, then exhaling through the mouth while sucking in the stomach. I tell myself I'm inhaling good clear air and exhaling bad stuff inside me.

Anxiety is certainly a rotten "substitute symptom." But it seems to be what a lot of us get, until we discover the emotions causing it. What helps me besides deep breathing is a cup of hot milk.