Whimville » nervousness http://www.whimville.com Life on a Whim Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:48:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Take a Break and Breathe http://www.whimville.com/meditation/take-a-break-and-breathe http://www.whimville.com/meditation/take-a-break-and-breathe#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:54:46 +0000 admin http://www.whimville.com/?p=32 Did you know that the word, “whim,” which generally means “an odd or capricious notion or desire,” is actually short for “whim-whams,” which has its origin between 1635-1645. Why am I mentioning this? Well, because the informal definition of whim-whams is “nervousness; jitters,” as in “He had the whim-whams after the accident.” Aah, that didn’t quite explain things, did it? And, you may be still wondering what this “defining moment” is all about.  And, I shall clarify. You see, it seems to me that everyone in this country has a case of the whim-whams these days. People are nervous and jittery about all sorts of things, from the wars in Afghan and Iraq, health care reform, and failing banks to home mortgages, finding or keeping a job, and raising children. And, too often, nervousness and jitters turn into anger and shouting, and even violence. There is only one cure I know of for the whim-whams, and that’s meditation.

Meditation can not only help us to relax in the moment, but it can help us alter our reaction to the world around us. A meditation of relaxation begins with our consciously breathing, slowly and evenly, the same deep “belly breathing” we did when we were a baby and life seemed pretty darn good. Even as adults, our body continues to have this body memory, and as we breathe in this way, we begin to feel peaceful, safe, and happy, the way we did when our diapers were dry and our tummies were satiated.

Breathing slowly and deeply clears our mind, opens our awareness to our deeper nature, and we become more receptive to the possibilities of life. This way of breathing allows our mind, emotions, and body to relax. Though it is similar to the centered mind/emotions/body state we can achieve through meditation, this can be done with our eyes open. We can breathe slowly and deeply while driving in traffic, while sitting in a business meeting, while listening to our children explain a misbehavior. Really, this type of breathing brings such peace of mind that we are capable of seeing any situation in a new way. And, it will definitely get rid of the whim-whams.

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