Control how you react 

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh was asked, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?”

“I allowed my self to breathe,” he answered. “And then I said, ‘What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick and you will not be able to help.’”

I sit with that answer a lot these days. I read the news and I feel it right away. My chest gets tight and my thoughts start racing ahead. That is why I keep learning how to keep anxiety from filling my heart in the first place.

I do not wait until I feel calm to begin. I begin and then I let my body settle. I use these practices when thoughts get loud in my head. Five minutes is enough for me to come back.

If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick

To that end, I want to offer you a short, impactful practice – just five minutes long – that can pull you out of a bad feeling place.  

Yes, we can’t always control what happens to us. But we can control how we respond to it, how we react to it and what we do from there on out. And that’s a lot of power and that’s a lot of control actually. 

You do not have to fix the whole world today. I sit in meditation before responding and I notice what is here. I am letting anxious feelings move through me instead of holding them tight. The Mayo Clinic recommends breathing exercises as a first-line tool for managing anxiety in the moment, and I’ve seen it work in my practice time and time again.

A self-care breath and grounding mudra

So I invite you to engage with this short, potent practice that includes a self-care breath and grounding mudra.

I let my grounding practice with mudra hold me while I breathe. I do this in the quiet morning and again at night. Come sit with me here please.

Do it any time you feel the call, and it will be good medicine. I promise. And if your mind wanders? Totally fine. That’s what minds do. Just gently bring it back to the breath, no drama, no judgment. The more you do it, the more you start rebuilding your sense of self worth because you are proving to yourself that you can handle what comes up.

With Love,

Becca