The Art of Breathing
Are you breathing properly? While many of us don’t give it a second thought, the way we breathe can affect our overall physical and mental wellbeing. For example, we tend to take shallow breaths when we are tense, and this reduces the oxygen levels in the blood, causing our heart to race and our brain to feel stressed.
To address this, award-winning mindfulness author Danny Penman shares a few simple breathing meditations that can help us achieve calmness and relaxation. An interesting technique is the ‘scavenger meditation’, where one learns to breathe freely while wandering and idly picking up objects, adopting a curious and playful mindset while doing this. In essence, by paying conscious attention and making thoughtful changes to the way we breathe, we can clear away the chaotic thoughts that clutter our mind, reduce our stress levels and learn to live in the moment. It’s time to take a breather…
Reviewed by Joanne Koh, National Library Board (NLB).
Availability of the book title can be checked via NLB’s online catalogue at http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg.
