Remember the old adage “Take A Deep Breath and Count To Ten?” There is a lot of truth in some of these old sayings. Many stress-relieving and meditative techniques focus on breath. And for very good reason: it is one of the simplest and most effective ways of calming the mind and returning our body to a state of balance or equilibrium.
Some years ago I began working with Anya Sophia Mann, founder of Conscious Journey, as my coach and mentor. She introduced me to the ‘100 conscious-breaths’ technique, by inviting me to take 100 conscious breaths at the beginning of each day before doing anything else. The technique is pretty simple: just count 100 breaths and pay attention to each one. Easier said than done!
In addition to being an effective tool for calming the mind, this technique is also a barometer to indicate the state of our mind in any moment. For example, at first I would try doing this before I got out of bed. And was amazed at how much my mind would drift. I would find myself dreaming and totally forget where I was up to. Often I would totally drift off – thinking about something else I needed to do and forget completely that I was supposed to be counting 100 breaths.
When I did remember what I was supposed to be doing, I would forget where I was up to. I would sometimes feel agitated and find myself thinking: “This is ridiculous, I’m too busy to do this. I have things to do!” That, in itself, is a trick of the mind that keeps us feeling stressed. Think about it. If you are really too busy to take time out for 100 conscious breaths, you need to do this technique more than anyone! (And if I was really that busy I would be moving into action and not drifting back off to sleep!) In fact, the agitation I was feeling was already there. It was driving me. This truth is that this technique had simply revealed what already existed in me.
Initially we will experience agitation and ‘losing our place’. This is not a sign that this technique doesn’t work. Indeed, precisely the opposite is happening. The technique is revealing to you the true state of your over-stimulated mind. These days we are extremely over-stimulated, by internet information, TV, news, work-related issues. We have lost sight of valuable techniques such as this for calming ourselves down.
This is such a valuable technique to learn that it is worth the initial discomfort we might feel, in the beginning. If you can’t sit still to try this, and feel a lot of agitation, try doing it in motion: running, walking or cycling, and counting 100 breaths at the same time. It will still have the same effect of calming your mind, and body.
If we can get through the initial discomfort of this technique we can get to a point where the ‘relaxation reflex’ kicks in. We re-train our minds, so that on beginning the technique the mind drops all its’ agitation and automatically relaxes into the breath. We feel calmer, relaxed and less uptight. Once this happens, we have another valuable tool to support us in reducing the stress in our lives, which we can bring into any situation to relieve the stress in the moment.
The Conscious Journey work of Anya Sophia Mann can be found online at http://www.ConsciousJourney.com
Ruth spent 18 years in the UK Health Service and had many articles published including a coaching column in “The Practising Midwife” Journal. Author of “Effective Coaching in Healthcare“, she also co-wrote “Interpersonal Skills” and ” The Bullying Culture” with Muriel O’Driscoll. Read articles by Ruth here and at eZineArticles.com. Ruth also writes regularly about Soul Astrology and other topics for Life Coaching Magazine. She currently supports people in reducing stress in their lives, through coaching, training, public speaking and writing.


