Hello Gardeners!
Taking deep breaths is the key to connecting your body with your mind. When you focus on your breathing you are taking your mind off your thoughts. When life gets busy, it's important to stop and take a breathing break. It's been a minute since we shared a breathing exercise, so today on the blog - in true #PullYourWeeds fashion - we have a flower themed breathing technique that is sure to help you slow down your thoughts and embrace the present moment.
According to the University of Michigan's Health Department, "Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Those things that happen when you are stressed, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax."
For #PetalBreathing, find yourself a medium or large flower and hold it in your hand. With your pointer finger on your other hand, point to the base of one petal and slowly trace the petal up towards the tip - inhaling as you go. Pause at the tip of the petal, and then use your pointer finger to trace back down the petal, exhaling until you reach the center of the flower.
If you don't have a flower available to you, feel free to use your hand - and trace up and down your fingers - or print out a picture of a flower (like this one below)!
