On the heels of the last post, Talk Back, this quote caught my eye as it touches on some of my  favorite topics: self worth, self talk and boundaries.

I hear time and time again, “I am not worthy… (of this or that)” or the excuse of… “Must be my worthiness issue.” This quote sums up the importance of not only setting boundaries but speaking up for ourselves when someone has crossed that fine line of one of our boundaries.

What is more common is to beat up on ourselves when someone does or says something not nice or WHAT WE PERCEIVE to be not nice.  It may have nothing to do with us; but, our inner critic has a field day with negative self talk.

When we speak up for ourselves either to that inner critic OR to someone that crossed one of our boundaries,  it is an act of self love and respect which only creates self worth.

Thanksgiving is the official mark of Christmas being less than 4 weeks away which manifests holiday shopping, holiday stress, holiday craziness…or does it have to be that way? Absolutely NOT! We naturally default into the holiday insanity unless we choose not to. We forget we have the ability to make choices with our brains and not fall into the collective consciousness of “holiday stress.”

A technique that I use to create and maintain balance in my life is the Alternate Nostril Breath. It is as easy as it is powerful. This breath can be done anywhere and can be done for just 4 minutes and have profound results.

This breath balances the left (thinking) and right (feeling) hemisphere’s of the brain. After just a few minutes there is a release of neuro-transmitters which calm our system and create an anti anxiety anti-depressant effect to our nervous system. This also creates a more balanced person and improved brain function since both halves of the brain are functioning properly.

This is considered to be the best breathing technique to calm the mind and the nervous system.

Other Benefits:

1. Cleans and clears impurities from the lungs

2. Calms and controls negative self talk

3. Improves quality of sleep

4. Lowers blood pressure

5. Boosts energy

The Technique:

1. Right thumb closes off right nostril.

2. Inhale slowly through left nostril

3. Pause for a moment

4. Close left nostril with ring finger and release thumb off of right nostril

5. Exhale through your right nostril

6. Inhale through right nostril

7. Use thumb to close of right nostril

8. Breathe out through left nostril

* This is considered to be one round. Begin with just 2-3 rounds and continue to work your way up to 10 rounds.