The Essential 4 Series: Breathing and the OD Factor

A while back, I spoke about what I called "the OD Factor." OD can mean "OverDoit" "OverDose" or even "OverlyDone". Basically, it means not to take anything too far or go overboard with any information that is given to you. While I was walking during lunch, I realized a couple of things that I need to tell you in regards to breathing. It's easy for people to learn new information, get excited and then do it so much or without proper instruction, that they hurt themselves. Breathing is too important of a process to get it wrong...it's one thing to experiment on yourself when you have proper awareness but as a beginner with no real awareness, it's a no no.

1. Like anything, mastering takes time. There is no way you can get proper posture or breathing without taking time to make sure you get it right. This is why, in addition to giving you tips, I also give you ways to achieve these goals with professional assistance. When it comes to health, I do not follow the "no pain, no gain" philosophy. That may work if you're in a gym, competing with yourself or the person next to you or in a contest but lifestyle changes do not work that way. Now don't get me wrong, you may have discomfort and you may have pain in an effort to become a healthier person. What I don't want you to think is that if you do feel discomfort or pain, that you should keep on going. NO WAY! This is especially true with breathing. If you are trying to do something and you feel discomfort and pain, stop it immediately and breathe the way you are used to. After a while, then you can try it again. Baby steps are important.
   
2. When I was walking down the street for lunch, I breathed through my nose and noticed mucus forming. Some of it started to drip. If your nose drips when you're breathing through your nose, then clean it up. Wipe the outside of your nostrils with your hands but do not blow it out. If you want to clean out the inside of your nose, use a tissue. If the nasal drip goes the other way, you should spit it out or swallow it (hey, sometimes it travels that fast LOL). Do not get frustrated or upset that you got plenty of mucus or that you couldn't spit or swallow in time. Even if you do blow your nose in the cold and you feel the effects, don't get upset and deterred. That is your mind trying to stop you from being healthy. More on that in a second.
3. In later posts, I'm going to talk about different methods of breathing and certain techniques that help you to breathe with great effect. Like I said in the #1, breathing properly is tricky and learning how to do it can be dangerous. For instance, in Tai Chi (one of the methods used to attain proper breathing) there is a technique called "turning the wheel". I'm not going to explain how this works but if you were to read up on it, there would be a disclaimer of sorts saying "do not attempt to practice this technique unless under the guidance of a skilled master/teacher. Doing this on your own can cause kidney problems and even kidney failure." Although I am adept in breathing and can breathe from the lowest parts of my womb, I do not consciously do this technique. Even if I realize that I am doing it, I stop and return to my normal breath.
   
4. In #2, I spoke about the mind trying to stop you from being healthy. It's not the mind's intention to stop you from being healthy. The mind gets really comfortable with what is going on so when change comes, it will fight by bringing out certain emotions like anger, frustration, and fear so that you stop what you're doing and continue on the path that it's used to. This is where the mind-body disconnect comes in. Your body knows what it needs to do to heal and cleanse you and make you healthy. However, your mind has different ideas because of everyday stress. As all this stress makes your body go into "emergency" mode, it gives control to the mind...leading you to where you are today. Awareness is allowing your body to take control of those things that it has to control - your physical health. Your body has no problems telling you that you should stop doing something or you need something but it's often your mind that puts those requests to the side, taking control. To create a good mind-body connection, you have to be able to let go. Sometimes relinquishing control is the only way to get something under control. You may not get that right now...but stick with me and you will, ok? :D

Stay strong. Stay up. Talk to you sooner than later.
See

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The OD Factor

Have you ever became so excited in a subject that you immersed yourself fully and wholeheartedly into it?
Did it ever get to the point where you did TOO much, too fast that you got bored and quit (or even worse, it became a detriment to you)?

This has happened to many of us on many different occasions. The situations vary but it's the same end result. I call it the OD factor (OD can mean "OverDose" or "OverDoIt"). It is really an issue when it comes to health. Let me explain:

Now let's say you have a cold, or even worse, bronchitis. You go to see the doctor and he gives you some pills. The doctor tells you to take 2 pills, once a day for 7 days and you should be fine. But you want to be fine RIGHT NOW. So you take 4 pills (2 twice a day) for 4 days instead of 7. Next thing you know, you're back in the doctor's office for another ailment that you have. :( But you can't blame that on the doctor. You kicked in the OD factor and messed yourself up.

Here is a scenario that may hit a little closer to home:

I have a friend that I helped to lose 35lbs. She increased her water consumption and included light exercise, such as walking, to her daily regimen. When I first told her to drink water, I explained why she needs to and told her only to make sure she drinks water when she wakes up in the morning, during the day (and nothing else - no soda, nothing - and if she does drink other things to have a sip of water afterwards), and before she goes to sleep. The next thing I know, this woman is telling me that she's drinking gallons of water in one sitting!!! Her reason being is "I wanted to flush out the toxins quicker so I figured drinking more would do it."

There are too many reasons why the OD factor is a bad thing, especially when it comes to health (and did you know that drinking too much water at once is not good for you? more on that at another time). First off, health is not something that just "magically appears and disappears." The time it took for you to reach an unhealthy state did not happen overnight (even though it may seem that way). The time it will take for you to get back to healthly state will DEFINITELY NOT be an overnight process (and it should not be). When it comes to health, most times the old adage is true: less is more.

Athough there are a issues with doctors in general, when they give you instructions you should follow it to the letter. That way, if there is a complication (especially when it comes to prescriptions) your doctor knows how to tweak it so that you get better, with the least amount of discomfort. When it comes to Alternative Medicine, you must follow the instructions to the letter so that you can get the maximum benefit.

I do not worry about time when it comes to the people I'm helping out. I don't want them to feel like they should rush through things. I live in New York City - the "rush" capital of the world. Everything and everyone in NYC moves so fast and is always in a rush to get...well, pretty much nowhere. LOL It is one of the many factors that adds to our stress levels. Most of America likes the "quick fix". They want it yesterday and they want it to work NOW or it's not worth much.

Do you think your body "isn't worth much" because it takes time to heal? Do you think that you should rush your health? Not at all. When it comes to the body, nothing can be rushed. The body has it's own timing mechanism. It knows how long it's going to take to heal and believe me, it wants to be healed (any opposition comes from the mind...no matter how physical the resistance may seem). Why not, for once, take care of yourself properly? Why not take time - with YOU? Aren't you the most important thing in your world? How many people depend on you? Think about it. You have a boss that depends on you, you may have children or a family member that depends on you. As a matter of fact, the person registering your groceries depends on you - well you have to pay for the food so that they can get paid! LOL Even though these people may rush you, take the necessary time it will take for you to get things done. This is especially of importance when it comes to being healthy.

Stress. (oh I get stressed just thinking about the word hehe) Stress leads to many issues in life (mental, physical and even spiritual)...as we all know, stress can lead to death. We all try to ignore the symptoms and signs of stress until it's too late. The first thing you must to do conquer stress is to take time. I mentioned in an earlier post a story about not eating lunch. Basically, it caused me great stress, which lead me to almost lose my job! I had to take time for myself and made sure I ate lunch and that let a lot of stress go for me. I not only ate the lunch but I made sure to enjoy eating my lunch. I took time to appreciate the food given to me and appreciated how it will nourish not only my stomach but quell my mind and calm me down when external situations open up opportunities for stress.

On the flip side, you get really excited about...let's say, exercising. You start it and you're very consistent for about a month. Almost too consistent. Since you're now working out 5 days out of the week and you're doing strenuous exercise, you start to feel pain and discomfort in your joints and muscles. You get on the scale and realize you didn't lose as much as you wanted to (and some folks even gain weight). You get bored and you give up. This too, is also a result of the OD factor.

Gradual changes last a long time. Reaching small goals is a must in health. Yoga is a fantastic example of this.

I went to a Yoga class at my gym for the first time. I have done Yoga for years but this is the first time in a long time that I was going to make it consistent again. So, I'm in class and the poses and breathing comes naturally to me. The teacher adjusts me in various ways to optimize my experience (as she does with everyone). There was one guy in the class who was struggling. The teacher tried to show him better ways to do things but he would fight her (not literally) every time. Soon, the teacher gave up and continued with the other students. This person started to grunt and groan, getting more and more frustrated each time he did a pose. By the time we came to the end (corpse pose...in layman's terms, you lie down and relax...almost to the point of sleep), this man was still uncomfortable. As I left the class, the man was cursing at his friend, telling her that (basically) she was the worst for even bringing him to this class. As she stood there quietly, taking it all in, I stopped him and said:

This class was not bad because of your friend or the teacher. It was a bad experience because of you. "But I tried to get the poses but couldn't...it was too hard." No sir. YOU were trying too hard. The purpose of Yoga is not to compete or try to do a pose as good as the other guy. The purpose of Yoga is to free your mind and body and soul so that they can all be one. Since you were so busy competing with everyone else and (even worse) yourself, you will never get it. Just do the best that you can. No one expects anymore from you than that. If you keep rushing yourself, you will never reach the pinnacle or your goal without being badly bruised and scarred. You don't have to see the scars to feel them or to know that they're there.

The man looked at me with a blank stare. His female companion shook her head in agreement. She then thanked me for saying what she wanted to say, but couldn't, because of his fierce nature. Once he came out of that stare, he apologized to his friend for the way he acted and apologized to the teacher. He came back the next week - focused and aware. He was able to do most of the poses without discomfort. When the teacher came to adjust his poses, he smiled and thanked her. He left the class feeling much better and told me that he's going to try to be "less competitive" in all aspects of his life. He lives in a world where if it doesn't happen now, it's never going to happen and this class made him realize that it's not the way to be.

This man was correct in his assessment, not only within himself but with everyone...everyone should be "less competitive" and not rush certain things...especially when it comes to YOU. Now if you have to rush a payment so you don't get a late fee on a bill, that's one thing. But letting people rush you or rushing yourself to reach a goal or stage in your life will almost always lead to failure. I really and truly learned this the hard way, especially since I am the type of person that works well under pressure (people like me will always wait until the last minute so they can get that adrenaline pumping...that leads to rush rush rush...and a slew of potential errors).

So there are two things I want you to take with you after reading this: less is more and variety is the spice of life. If you're getting bored with something, change it up. If you have to contact your doctor and tell him or her that your "exercise regimen" is boring, then they should be able to give you a slew of alternatives to choose from to reach your goals. If your doctor (or health counselor) gives you specific instructions for doing something, follow it. Don't let the OD factor creep into your world and allow you to make a mistake. Your health is too important for that. YOU ARE TOO IMPORTANT FOR THAT. :)

I hope you have taken sweet time to read this. If you skimmed through this, read it again very slowly. Take that energy and put it towards all that you do. You may not know your body fully, but taking time and not letting the OD factor overtake you will enable you to listen to what your body is saying. Hearing is a quick action. Listening takes time.

And on that note I will humbly say,
stay strong, stay healthy and fight dis-ease!

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