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LET’S COMMIT TO BE FIT
Find a calming place in the present and just breathe
It’s a stressful day, and your mind is racing with all the things you need to do tomorrow and the tasks you didn’t accomplish yesterday.
Take a moment. And just breathe. It truly is the pause that refreshes.
“Watch your breath, steady your mind and become more aware of your behavior,” advises Mia Muratori, a behavioral dynamics consultant. “Make a conscious decision to live in the present instead of focusing on the past or the future.”
Muratori works with colleagues in departments throughout Christiana Care, teaching people to practice restorative medita- tion.
“If you haven’t meditated before, we might start with 5-10 minutes and then build up to 20 minutes,” she said. “Meditating
for as short a time as three minutes a day will build the meditation muscle and enhance your mental balance.”
The goal is to make meditation part of each individual’s mental hygiene through daily practice. Instead of targeting the working side of the mind, we move to what Muratori calls the genius side of the mind, where we simply observe.
Many people view yoga as a practice to build balance, strength and flexibility. But it also emphasizes breathing.
“Yoga calms the body, quiets the mind and brings you into the present moment,” says Maryann Quinn-Hendrix, who teaches classes on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at the Wilmington Hospital Annex.
Don’t worry about being able to assume difficult poses.
“If you can breathe, you can do yoga,” she said. “Breathing in through your nose and out through your nose gives us a pause. It helps us to relax. It centers us.”
If you feel stressed by an approaching holiday, think about the positive aspect of the day.
“If it’s Thanksgiving, focus on one thing you are grateful for that day,” she advises. “Breathing relieves stress because it keeps your mind from racing. If you just listen to your breath, it calms us down. It’s a natural reaction.”
Quinn-Hendrix recently worked with nurses to teach them to take a 10-minute “brain break.”
“You can do it any time,” she said. “At work, I roll my chair away from my desk, close my eyes and breathe. On weekends, when
I am home with my kids, I might go upstairs, lay down on the bed, and breathe. It is amazing how quickly your outlook can change.” ●
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To learn more, contact Mia Muratori at marie.a.muratori@christianacare.org; contact Maryann Quinn-Hendrix at mquinn-hendrix@christianacare.org.