By Carol Blanchard
Master Wellness Volunteer

We all have tigers to tame and many of those beasts show up in our lives as moods. Whether chronic emotional conditions or just bad hair day swings, we all have those Moody Mondays where one thing snowballs into one exasperating experience. Well, that’s bad news in itself, but unfortunately we tend to add fuel to this bonfire by dropping out our exercise program or cheer ourselves up with donuts . Now we have a Class A mood to manage.

I found myself in just such a state this week and I am a regular meditator and exerciser, though in my case, I found myself anxious, restless and irritable. I could think of reasons why I might be irritable – the oppressive heat outside, my vacation dates not lining up for me, too many projects started at once and the list went on. All good reasons to feel the way I did, but knowing ‘reasons’ didn’t make me feel any better.

Yes, I did mention that I am a long time meditator and yoga practitioner. So I revisited training basics by giving myself a Meditation Vacation. I headed to my meditation room (I do have a room, but any quiet place will do) and began by taking 3-stage breaths. Here’s how to do it:

Inhale

Receive through the Nose
Fill the Chest
Fill the Belly

Exhale

Draw Belly towards the spine
Draw in the Diaphragm & Chest
Feel the breath exit the Nose

Repeat 6 times. Stop and check in with yourself. Try for another 6 full cycles. Relax and let your breath return to normal while you give yourself a little more Meditation Vacation.

I then remembered that meditation works like untangling a knot in a chain. Yanking on the ends of the chain only makes the knot tighter. Gently pushing down on the knot with a finger and squooshing it apart reveals the tangle. Meditation slows down the tangled thoughts so they can be observed. One by one, those thoughts are seen and released. Just releasing them for the meditation time lessens their power. Tiger taming begins here.

There are many variations to this basic breathing technique and we’ll explore some of them in our Master of Wellness classes. I hope you will join us.