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Victory Breath to lower Anxiety

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Cancer Survivors can benefit from the Victory Breath which activates the positive mind and positive thinking in the face of stress and challenges.

Victory Breath uses a segmented inhale, suspension of the breath, and exhale. On the suspension of breath, think to yourself the syllables: VIC-TOR-Y. See these written in your mind’s eye. Feel yourself strong and victorious.

Let go of attachment to a specific outcome and focus instead on the feeling of victory in overcoming a challenge. Surrender to the Infinite, and the possibility that the challenge will be overcome.

 

Overcoming Panic and Anxiety

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Feeling anxiety or panic?

Try this simple but powerful breath exercise from kundalini yoga for overcoming a panic or anxiety attack.

Cancer survivors and others will benefit from learning this practice to quickly gain better control of their breathing and relax the mind.

The sips are many little bitty sips like you are trying to suck the last bit of liquid through a straw.  Keep sipping until you have taken in as much air as you comfortably can.  Then suspend the breath in for a few moments before exhaling smoothly through the nose.  Repeat as many times as you want.

Caring for Physical Vulnerabilities

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Cancer survivors are often faced with ongoing side effects from medical treatment that they did not expect.  How can we acknowledge the reality of our side effects and limitations and continue to live and stretch ourselves? This video talks about the dilemma survivors face and ends with a short meditation for accepting ourselves as we are.

Which Side of Your NOSE are YOU Breathing Through? (and why is this important?!)

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Before reading further, take a moment to feel connected to your body. Notice the sensations connecting you to a chair, the floor, or bed.

Breathe long and deep a few times, allowing your chest and belly to expand on the inhale like you are filling a balloon with air, and relax with the exhale.

Now bring your fingertips just below your nostrils and breathe out powerfully a few times. Can you discern which side of your nostrils is more open than the other at this moment? Left, right, or equal?

I’m going to share a secret about your body you probably never learned growing up or in school: several times a day, our bodies naturally change which nostril side is more open and easier to breathe through.

Why on earth is this important?!

Many of us, but cancer survivors in particular, struggle with fatigue, difficulty focusing, anxiety and insomnia.

Yogic breathing practices such as alternate nostril breathing can help you bring more prana (life force energy) into your body to manage the side effects of cancer.

At a given moment, the nostril side which is more open reveals the state of your mind and energy. You can even learn to track your mental state and physical energy by observing which side is more open or more blocked.

You have an incredible potential to change your state of mind and body by deliberately switching which nostril side is more open through alternate nostril breathing.

When I first learned about this and started using it in my daily life, I felt like I had a hidden superpower to lower stress, calm emotional reactions, make me more alert, reduce anxiety, and choose to focus.

But which side is which?

TO RELAX-Open the Left Side

When your left side is more open, you are usually calmer, more relaxed, less anxious. (You might also feel tired or sleepy, unfocused or fatigued). When the left side is more open, it is easier to fall asleep.

If you find yourself struggling to sleep, check which side of your nostrils is more open. With insomnia, based on my own experience, I can almost guarantee that the left side is blocked and the right side is open.

To encourage relaxation or sleep, block the right nostril and begin long deep breathing through the left. Continue for 3-11 minutes or until the dominance changes to the left. Lie on your right side to sleep, allowing the left nostril more ease at being open.

Anxiety: If you are feeling anxious during the day, check your nostrils. No doubt the right side is more open and the left side is blocked. Again, block the right side and begin long deep breathing through the left. You can practice anywhere!

Practice along with me to lower anxiety OR get ready to sleep by clicking here:http://www.kellyinselmann.com/monday-morning-videos/lower-anxiety-with-left-nostril-breathing/

FIGHT FATIGUE-Open the Right Side

When the right side is open, you are usually more alert and awake with higher energy. (You might also be feeling anxious or restless).

 If you need to stay awake, drive, study, listen to a friend or client, care for a child, block the left nostril with your left thumb and begin breathing long and deep through the right side for 3-11 minutes or until the dominance switches to the right.

To wake up, energize your body, focus, become more alert OR to lift your mood, practice along with me by clicking here:http://www.kellyinselmann.com/monday-morning-videos/energize-with-right-nostril-breathing/

Believe it or not, there are some yogis who, with practice, can learn to switch the dominance of the nostril without even using the fingers to block one side. Through deep self awareness and attention they are able to open up one side or the other.

 Let me know the results of your observations and experiments!

 

 

When You Don’t Know What To Do

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“What to Do when You Don’t Know what to Do” is a Kundalini Meditation practice for when you feel overwhelmed or at a loss for what your next step should be.

It’s not unusual to feel a lack of clarity about your next step as you face detection of illness, waiting for diagnosis, making decisions about providers, dealing with the reality of treatment and side effects, challenged with work, and communicating with loved ones about your condition. Recently, many are also concerned about the direction of our society and whether they will continue to have medical insurance, given the debates over the Affordable Care Act.

This Breath Meditation can help.  The sequence is as follows: Inhale long and deep through the nose, exhale through puckered lips. Then inhale through puckered lips, exhale through the nose. Inhale through the nose, exhale through puckered lips, etc. Continue, switching after each inhale and going at your own pace. Eye focus is at the tip of the nose.

Stress Relief through Long Deep Breathing

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Long deep breathing stimulates the relaxation response. It’s simple, but not always easy to remember!

Practice long deep breathing with Kelly this week, using a special mudra (yogic hand position) to increase relief from stress. Women place right middle finger and thumb together, left pinky and thumb together. For men, it’s reversed.

Bring your attention completely to your breath to give your mind a rest from worry.

Detoxifying Breath with Spinal Flex (Immune Fitness #2)

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Practice spinal flex with a special variation to discharge anger, stress, fear, trauma, disappointment, negative predictions and anything that no longer serves you.  Exercise #2 from Kriya for Immune Fitness.

Inhale flexing forward, then make the sound “HUNH” from the belly as you exhale, stick your tongue out, and round the spine.  You can practice this seated on the floor or in a chair with the hands on the thighs.

Take this opportunity to really let go!  Don’t worry about imagining what you are letting go, just trust that your body knows and will release it.

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6 Ways to Calm Yourself When Cancer Scares You

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A lingering cough that won’t go away finally made Roxanne call her oncologist.

Leaning on the kitchen counter with the plates and forks from breakfast piled beside the sink, she hears the nurse say: “With your history, we need to have you come in and check it out.”  Her heart rate quickens and her mind goes blank. Then it dips into the worst possibilities. The shock and fear she felt when first diagnosed three years ago returns full force.

It’s not much fun to talk about the terror of cancer. Many survivors experience fear and terror over and over again, beginning with when they are first diagnosed.

For the past 7 years, I’ve taught a weekly yoga class for cancer survivors. Checking in before we start, people share what motivated them to come. Often it is hope of relief, the sense of wellbeing when we finish, learning to meditate, connecting with their tribe. It’s also “letting go of fearful thoughts,” a scan in the afternoon,” stress, or a “cancerversary” date approaching.

Over the next 2 days, Roxanne’s breath is shallow, hard to catch and control.  Her mind won’t be still and she loses focus.  She tries to go shopping with her mother and teenage daughter for a dress to wear to a wedding but feels impatient and grumpy.  She avoids talking about her fear and anxiety because she thinks it will alarm them. After all, she doesn’t know anything yet.

Protecting others from pain and worry, Roxanne shoulders it alone. Inside she obsesses: Will her life and goals be hijacked by new medical interventions? Will she lose the energy she’s finally recovered? How will her daughter, Lily, react when she finds out?

She knows it might be nothing.  And worse case scenario, a recurrence is not a death sentence.  But she no longer has the illusion that it can’t happen to her.

She cries in the shower where no one can see. She reads a new mystery by her favorite author. Enjoying ice cream, she lies in bed and watches Netflix. An Ativan stops the agony of rumination so she can sleep at night. She has trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

Neuroscience teaches that under (real or perceived) threat of danger, your body goes into fight, flight, or freeze in order to survive.

The fear response Roxanne had is faster than lightning and outside her control. 

Once you are aware of how your nervous system has reacted, here are some ways to soothe and care for yourself:

  1. First recognize that fight/flight or freeze is a normal biological reaction. It is a perfectly understandable and adaptive initial phase of coping. Be as kind and compassionate to yourself as possible. Give yourself credit for making it through each day. You are doing the best you can!
  1. Reach out. When you feel the fear taking over again and your breath getting shallow, call a friend who can handle it, talk to trusted family, or a therapist or support group. Let yourself cry. Let someone comfort and connect with you.
  1. Find ways to feel connected to your body. Run, walk, swim, put on music and dance, do yoga. Feel and move your body. Enjoy your circulation, your ability to stretch and your physical sensations. Even a few minutes of one of these activities can make a huge difference.
  1. Sense your belonging to the earth. Feel the safety of gravity keeping you attached to the floor or ground. Feel the parts of your body that are touching the ground, the soil, natural bodies of water, your chair or the floor.
  1. Observe your breathing without judging it. Enjoy the pulse of life within you as you expand and contract in each moment and with each breath.
  1. Write about your feelings. Express all of it in a journal, telling your unvarnished and uncensored truth.

 

 

DISCLAIMER
I’m a licensed clinical social worker and yoga teacher practicing in Austin, Texas. My writings and videos represent a combination of my own personal opinions and my professional training, but they do not reflect professional or medical advice. Interaction with me via the vlog or blog does not constitute a professional therapeutic relationship. For individualized professional advice, you should seek the services of a therapist who can dedicate the time necessary to get to know you and your physical and mental health needs. I do not assume liability for any portion or content of material on the vlog/blog and accept no liability for damage or injury resulting from your decision to interact with the website.

© 2024 Kelly Inselmann. All Rights Reserved.
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When I remember my Joy Boots… I feel grounded, connected to the earth and my place in it. I accept my body with its vulnerabilities and sensations. I am aware of my breathing and able to breathe deeply. I am connected to my own life force energy.

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