Mariana Thomas  00:00  

Hello, my friends! Welcome to the Mindfully Recharged podcast with your host, Mariana Thomas. Today's episode is a short one, a good one and sweet, and a brief one. Yes. Our show today is called The Sacredness of Our Breaths and Why You Should Appreciate It. This show is so close to my heart, and you're going to know why. So without further ado, let's get to it. 

Speaker 2 0:40

Welcome to Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast. Mariana brings you mindful conversations and people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is Mindfully Recharged. 

Mariana Thomas 01:00

Welcome friends, like I mentioned, today is going to be a short and sweet and a brief episode. Yes, this is your host, Mariana Thomas, and we are back with another episode. Today's episode, the Sacredness of our Breath and Why You Should Appreciate It. As I mentioned, this episode is close to my heart. That, you know, if you would listen to the first three episodes of my story, and you can listen to me, in so many others, you know, that I had been in a health and wellness industry, a month, leadership and personal growth, for many years. For the health and wellness industry, it's been probably the first thing that has been my love, because I just absolutely love moving my body. Breathing, exercising and jumping around and doing sports, and all that type of stuff, and one of the things that we don't think about is our breath. 

Mariana Thomas 02:22

You know, when we first move, what is the first thing we should think about? It’s breath, but there are many things in this world that we take for granted, and our breath is one of them, and for me, that was the case because I was very, you say often. Yeah, very often since I was 16 years old when I started working out, you know. I enrolled myself in a gym facility at the age of 16. So I was working out with people that were three times and four times by age, and I was taking my youthfulness and my energy for granted. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with asthma. Yeah. I don't know if I shared this with you, friends, but yeah, I was diagnosed with asthma, and it was shocking, but at the same time, I wasn't because the symptoms were horrible. I remember not being able to breathe at all through my nose, which I have really practiced a lot through my yoga training and Pilates training, that breathing through my nose was so natural, but one day I remember being so sick. My nostrils were completely closed. I mean, I can get one sip of air through my nostrils, and that was pretty scary. 

Mariana Thomas 04:17

So I found myself going to the doctor probably seven times in a row and begging to make me feel better. I was, “Please, I came breath. I can't breathe. I don't know what's going on.”. So I got bronchitis and I think it was like three times on the row that I got bronchitis, and then after that, I was diagnosed with asthma because this cough will not go away. It's just, I get coughing and just feeling really bad. Anyways, the doctor says, “Looks like you have asthma.”, I'll say “Oh my lord”. Okay, and of course, you do what they tell you to do, you start taking all this medication and trying to appease yourself and you keep eating the things you were eating, no one tells you that you should change your diet, also, but you continue to do everything and you put on top of that, you put all this medication. 

Mariana Thomas 05:30

So I'm thinking, when did I stop thinking about my breath. We validly stop to think about how amazing it is that we can breathe without even thinking about it, and that was my case at that time, because I wasn't even thinking about breathing before when my nostrils were completely closed up, and I could not breathe. So breathing is essential to life, my friends, and yet, most of us never really appreciate it. Especially right now, with everything that's happening in the world, you know, you've heard about the pandemic. I'm sure you heard about that, and one of the things that were affected, or that is affecting many is our ability to breathe. So our breath is what connects us to the world and everything in it. You know, we need our breath to live. We really look for that, right when we need it was like, oh, we need to catch it, and yet, we don't always appreciate it. I want to remind you that more than once today, we don't always appreciate it. 

Mariana Thomas 07:17

So in this episode, short and sweet, I'm going to explore the sacredness of our breath, and why you should all take the time to appreciate it. You and I, because these days, my friend, let me tell you, I appreciate every single breath that I take. That is the first thing that I tune in when I wake up in the morning, when I first open my eyes even before opening my eyes, I'm already thinking about my breath. You know, I place my hand in my chest, and I go, okay, which nostril is open and which one is close, and one of the exercises that I do as breathwork, is alternating nostril breathing, because it allows me to know which one is functioning better in the morning, and you know that they represent two things right? The right side of your nostrils represents the speaking side, and the left side is more of the thinking side. So if I am about to speak I need to open that right nostril even more, and if I need to do some thinking right away, my left nostril, but the truth is, they both need to be open and it’s beautiful when I discovered that they both are open right when I wake up, but that's not the case every single day. 

Mariana Thomas 09:13

There are times it’s depending on what I gave my body the day before or the night before my nostrils are going to tell me if that was a good thing or a bad thing. One is going to be closed up more than the other. Last night, I was surprised because I experimented with something like wild rice, which I’m trying not to eat so much, and I thought maybe in the morning I'm going to be a little close. Well surprisingly, I wasn't. Both of my nostrils were open and I can breathe and I could do this beautiful breathwork, but let me tell you more about that. It is not just what you would get your body at nighttime, but it's what you get your body the entire day, and we can talk about nutrition in another episode, but this one I want to focus on the breath, and why. The only reason why I touched a little bit about the nutrition part just a little, is just to put a little bit in your mind that that is so connected as well. Right, because when you're diagnosed with asthma or any other respiratory issues it is not just the environment, it's also what you're putting into your body okay?

Mariana Thomas 10:53

So, let me get there. So, one of the reasons why we should appreciate our breath is because it is a symbol of life. I think about breath as the force of life. Without that, nothing will exist. We won’t exist if there was no breath. You know, no oxygen in the air. Even plants need oxygen. You know, every time we take a breath, we are reminded that we are alive, that we have the chance to make a difference in this world, and that is one big reason to appreciate our breath. 

Mariana Thomas 11:46

Another reason why we should appreciate our breath is that it is a reminder of the interconnection of all things. We are connected, my friends, and when we breathe in, we are inhaling the air from all around the world. You are outside even on the inside, we are connecting with people in cultures for way farther away. Realizing that we are all connected when we do that, and you may think that this is too boohoo for you, let me tell you, it is true. We are interconnected. That is another reason to appreciate our breath because we should care about our entire planet. Right? 

Mariana Thomas 12:54

Our breath is essential to life. It is the very first thing we do when we are born. Thank your body. It’s the first thing we do when we come out of our moms were, “What a beautiful thing!”. It is the last thing we do before we die. Every single moment in between keeps us alive. Every single moment in between our breath is life. It is a constant reminder of the preciousness of life. Our breath reminded us how beautiful this life is. 

Mariana Thomas 13:57

You know, our breath is also a powerful tool. You know why because it can be used for healing. Yes, my friends. I remember when I was in my corporate job, but as I told you in other episodes, I was burnout. I got burnout, and I was having panic attacks, and I have other diagnosed with hypothyroidism which I can tell you I'm doing much better with that, and I remember driving to work one day and realizing that I was having a panic attack, and I stop, and the first thing I thought, “Let me breathe. Let me use my breath to calm myself down. Let me use my breath to be present and to know that everything is okay.”, and that, my friends, was amazing because my nervous system completely aligned with me, and I was okay to continue to drive to get to work, you know, and continue breathing, and I was okay, but it was all intentional. It was all about pausing and using my breath to heal myself, and now I use it on so many occasions, okay? So when we are feeling stressed out, or anxious, like I was, taking some deep breaths can help to calm us down, okay, and bring us back to a state of balance, and that is what happened to me. You know, I was freaking out inside my car, and it's, you know, if you ever had a panic attack, you will know that sometimes it's uncontrollable, and if you don't know what to do, it can be very disturbing, but if you take control of your breath, and you pause, it can bring you back to that state of balance and control. 

Mariana Thomas  16:36

So your breathwork is an important part of many different spiritual and healing traditions from around the world. It’s just sometimes, we don't think about that or sometimes we are not involved with that world of spirituality and healing, but we need to start being more aware of those things, because they're so easy to do and so approachable, and so, you know, you can just grab it. You don't need to go and buy your breath, you can find it within you.

Mariana Thomas  17:24

And finally, we should appreciate our breath, because it is a reminder that the present moment is all that matters. The present moment is all that matters. We can’t change the past, and we don't know what the future holds. I don't know about you, but I don't have a crystal ball. So the present moment is the most important thing that I have. All we have is this moment right now. This thing that I just said to you is the past. So the present moment is what we have and our breath is a reminder, to live in the present, and savor every moment. Enjoy every moment of our lives.

Mariana Thomas  18:34

I want to leave you with this. So next time, you take a deep breath, remember to appreciate it all, that it represents the sacredness of our breath. It reminds us of the sacredness of life, and that is something worth celebrating.

Mariana Thomas  19:03

I hope, my friends, that you enjoyed this episode because this is so really close to me. There are some days that I need to do breathwork before I come into the microphone, and when I'm done, I'm so appreciative of the opportunity to be able to speak into the microphone so you can hear me without having to gasp for breath, and the reason why and we will probably get into another episode and why I'm doing so much better is because of first of all mindset. You know, that's my jam, and the other thing is also how I treat my body. The things that I put into my body. The things that I know are good for me and not good for me. To function, okay, because I love myself, I get to take care of myself, and I get it. I appreciate the force of life, which is the breath. 

Mariana Thomas 20:16

Okay, friends, I hope this was helpful. I hope you enjoyed this beautiful and short episode, and do me a favor. Share this episode with your friends and family. Send me a message. What are you thinking about this episode and others? Give me five stars if it can and a nice review. I will totally appreciate that. I’m doing this with love, kindness, and compassion because I want to get my voice out there, and I want people to hear this so they can benefit from this information, and with that, my friends, I will see you on the next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day. Bye. 

Mariana Thomas 21:07

Thank you for listening everyone, and don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your FREE Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, families, and everyone out there. I want to get this out there to everyone. So thank you for your support, and I'll see you next week.