Box breathing and using anger as a tool within larger action

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This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

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.com.

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Information, resources and opportunities to support the show

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and connect with others are available at StereoForest

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.com slash Daily Reconnect.

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This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

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only and is not a substitute for medical

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advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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If you have specific mental health concerns please

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consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Now on to the show.

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In today's episode we'll practice an exercise that

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uses breathing to reconnect to reality and then

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we'll talk about this week's theme which is

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anger and how to use it to motivate

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us to work towards shared goals.

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Welcome to the Daily Reconnect for March 14th.

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We've made it to Friday.

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I'm your host Jen DeHaan and this brief

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moment together will help anchor you to the

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present when you're feeling separated or detached from

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your surroundings or maybe your mind.

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Together we will reconnect with this messy world.

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Let's reconnect with reality.

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And after our exercise we'll find motivation to

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begin our day and persist through the battlefield

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that is daily existence right now.

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Embrace whatever serves you during this exercise and

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disregard whatever doesn't work for you and feel

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free of course to adjust anything as we

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move through it.

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This is your time to focus and recalibrate

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and that's all that matters right now.

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So in this episode's exercise we'll practice a

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breathing technique to reconnect with ourselves so we

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can connect with each other again.

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This technique is sometimes called box breathing and

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it can help you calm your mind and

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focus your attention.

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So for this exercise we'll be breathing in

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for a count of four, holding our breath

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and then releasing it.

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So all of these steps are timed.

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You'll want to find a comfortable seated or

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standing position.

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That's what's optimal for this exercise but you

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can also practice this if you're moving around

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or walking.

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Just feel free to adjust as needed for

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either your activity or your capacity to do

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breath work.

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So let's begin.

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Take a moment to bring your attention to

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your breath, letting go of any distractions that

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might be getting in the way of that.

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And for this exercise imagine that you're breathing

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in a box shape, that you're bringing this

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box shape into your mouth and into your

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lungs.

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So first I'm going to go over the

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exercise and then I will count the breathing.

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So what we're going to be doing in

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this exercising is inhaling for a count of

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four which is when you will fill your

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lungs completely and then you will hold your

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breath for a count of four, feeling the

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stillness and then you will exhale for a

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count of four, emptying your lungs completely and

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then you will hold your breath again for

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a count of four.

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So we will do that two times in

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a row.

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All right let's begin.

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So inhale for a count of four, three,

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two, one and hold three, two, one,

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exhale three, two, one and hold three,

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two, one and now return to normal breathing.

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All right so now we're going to do

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that one more time.

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All right let's begin.

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Inhale three, two, one and hold three,

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two, one, exhale three, two, one

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and hold three, two, one and now return

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to regular breathing.

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All right so let's now try changing the

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duration of each breath.

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We're going to do the same exercise again

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except this time we will inhale for three,

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we'll hold the breath for five, exhale for

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three and hold again for five and I'll

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repeat this exercise twice in a row.

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All right so let's begin.

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Inhale two, one and hold four, three,

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two, one, exhale two, one and

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hold four, three, two and one.

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All right let's return to normal breathing.

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We'll give you a second to just relax

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before we start again and now let's do

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it again in the same duration.

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All right let's inhale two, one and hold

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four, three, two, one, exhale two, one

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and hold four, three, two and one.

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All right that's it now return to your

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regular breathing and this is something that you

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can experiment with while you're moving for example

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if you're working or going for a walk

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just adjust the breathing pattern to your pace

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for example.

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This can be particularly useful during very stressful

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times or times with anxiety present or if

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you're feeling rather dissociated.

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This can all help bring you back to

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the present moment.

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Now take one final deep breath in and

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out and now we'll move on to some

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words of motivation for your day.

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Perhaps through our previous explorations earlier this week

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about anger and using it as a motivation

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tool you've begun to see your your anger

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not as something to suppress or apologize for

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but as a valuable piece of information.

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It's like a signal that you're receiving that

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points you towards what matters the most to

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you.

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So today I want to take this understanding

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about anger and take it a little bit

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further because once we've validated that our anger

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is there and we use it through connecting

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with other people we still face a pretty

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important question.

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How do we transform this shared energy that

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we're we're now connected with other people and

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we want to do something into lasting systemic

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change?

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Throughout history movements that have managed to create

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meaningful transformation didn't just acknowledge anger.

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They developed sophisticated strategies for channeling that anger

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into change.

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They understood that sustainable change requires more than

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just momentary outrage or just this very temporary

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thing.

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It demands visionary thinking, very strategic calculated action,

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and then sustained commitment to what can be

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a very slow work of making that change.

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The systems of capitalism and fascism have survived

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for generations precisely because they've adapted to contain

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and neutralize certain forms of resistance.

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They can withstand isolated protests and individual consumer

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choices and temporary outrage, anything that's not collective

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or not sustained, but what they cannot survive

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is entire communities systematically withdrawing their participation and

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simultaneously building different ways of relating to each

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other and the environment that they're in by

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Canadian.

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This is where our reconnection practice becomes very

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important.

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The present moment awareness that can help us

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feel better yes but it can also help

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us notice any assumptions that we may have

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internalized about what's possible or not possible what's

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necessary or what's inevitable or what we feel

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is inevitable we can start to question those

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assumptions.

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Today I invite you to take the anger

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that you've honored and the connections that you've

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formed these past few days and ask this

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what might we create together that embodies our

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deepest values not just what we're against but

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what are we for what concrete alternatives can

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we begin building in our communities right now

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what is already happening that you can join

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can those organizations then connect with other organizations

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and build a larger sustained movement and so

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on these kinds of efforts allow us to

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practice new ways of relating while meeting immediate

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needs and critically they help us develop the

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skills and the relationships that we'll need for

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larger transformations some of these efforts mean sacrifice

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but they can also make lasting change remember

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that throughout history the most effective movements operated

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simultaneously at multiple levels they organized resistance to

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harmful systems while actively building alternatives they addressed

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immediate suffering while working towards structural change they

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developed new cultural practices like buying Canadian products

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while challenging existing power structures as you move

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throughout your day I encourage you to notice

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opportunities that align with your values because your

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anger matters your connections with other people matters

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you matter and what you build together in

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response to these feelings matters immensely each act

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in doing things differently demonstrates that alternatives aren't

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just possible they're already emerging all around us

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these are interesting times but throughout history us

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humans have faced things that may have seemed

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insurmountable but then managed to imagine and create

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and make something better your contribution to this

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legacy whatever form it takes is significant and

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together our collective efforts weave the future world

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into being you are here capable of great

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things and there is substantial power with us

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connected together the world is much better with

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you in it this is the truth so

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that's it for today Friday March 14th thank

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you so much for joining me and let's

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connect again on Monday thank you for listening

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to the daily reconnect episodes are released on

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Monday Wednesday and Friday every week this show

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was created written hosted edited and produced by

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jenda han links to contact information ways to

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support the show transcripts the free newsletter and

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our community discord can be found in the

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show notes this is a stereo forest production