From Anxiety to Excitement How to breathe our way into "Being in the Zone"

If you would rather see the video head here: How to breathe our way into "Being in the Zone"

In a previous article I addressed how Anxiety might actually be good news since it shows what is truly important to us: whether it be meeting love, creating new art, starting a new exciting career or resolving a communication with someone we care about!

However we can’t possibly experience any of this if we are bogged down by anxiety since it manifests itself physically either by accelerating our heart rate or freezing us in place which literally corresponds to the fight-or-flight stress response!
So how do we go from Anxiety to Excitement in the easiest way, with the least amount of pain and in the most effective way possible?
This is what I am about to share in this newsletter and the following ones, with practical steps you can follow, that I found most helpful in my practice.

1. Why conscious breathing is essential
Did you know that when we breathe in our heart rate speeds up and it slows down when we breathe out?
It has been shown indeed that rapid breathing tends to generate stress and contribute to panic attacks. Conversely any kind of stress triggers faster breathing, which in turn increases stress even more in a vicious feedback cycle.
On the bright side, since our heart beat slows down when we breathe out, if we breathe out twice as slowly as we breathe in, we can calm down in just a few minutes!
Biofeedback devices allow us to observe on a screen how deep, regular breathing slows and stabilizes the heart beats. As the HeartMath® Institute’s research shows, regular breathing regulates the nervous system by effectively balancing out the sympathetic and parasympathetic or in other words the energetic, fight-or-flight and the relaxing parts of our autonomic nervous system. This synchronization of the breath brings about a state of coherence between the heart, the brain, and major bodily functions that results in clearer thinking, increased focus and decision making as well as better digestion, sleep and hormonal balance.

2. Why positive emotions are the way to harmony and health
Research at the HeartMath Institute has shown that one of the most powerful factors that affect our heart’s rate changing rhythm is our feelings and emotions. 
“In general, emotional stress – including emotions such as anger, frustration, and anxiety — gives rise to heart rhythm patterns that appear irregular and erratic. Scientists call this an incoherent heart rhythm pattern. Physiologically, this pattern indicates that the signals produced by the two branches of the ANS are out of sync with each other. This can be likened to driving a car with one foot on the gas pedal (the sympathetic nervous system) and the other on the brake (the parasympathetic nervous system) at the same time. 
This can cause our body to operate inefficiently, deplete our energy, and produce extra wear and tear on our whole system. This is especially true if stress and negative emotions are prolonged or experienced often.
In contrast, positive emotions send a very different signal throughout our body. When we experience uplifting emotions such as appreciation, joy, care, and love; our heart rhythm pattern becomes highly ordered, looking like a smooth, harmonious wave [...] This is called a coherent heart rhythm pattern. When we are generating a coherent heart rhythm, the activity in the two branches of the ANS is synchronized and the body’s systems operate with increased efficiency and harmony. It’s no wonder that positive emotions feel so good – they actually help our body’s systems synchronize and work better.”
What we knew intuitively has now been shown in multiple ways through scientific studies:
Nurturing positive emotions benefits our heart, the well-being and good function of our bodily systems regulating sleep, digestion and hormonal balance. It also impacts how clearly we think, the quality of our intuition and creativity, the decisions we make and the actions we take! In other words, in practicing proper breathing and emotional balancing, we can quickly attain a sense of Being in the Zone. 
Distinct from a state of relaxation, being in the zone can be very alert and active, such as a surfer dancing in the waves ~ What does Being in the zone look like for you?

If you would like to experience it, you are welcome to try this special guided HeartMath® practice tutorial Breathe your way into "being in the zone" in this video series : How to breathe our way into "Being in the Zone"
It has been shown to make a world of difference in our every life ~ enjoy at your own time and I look forward to hearing what you discovered!