NEW +++ Brain Diet +++ NOW

A revolutionary NEW Diet for your Brain is HERE! It’s a first diet ever that allow you to get MORE instead of less. 

No need to go shopping or order online. Everything you need is already here, around you, and in abundance! What is the most important resource for your brain? YES, you are right OXYGEN!!!

Although the brain represents only 2% of the body weight, it consumes 20% of the total body oxygen (Magistretti and Pellerin, 1996). How do you deliver oxygen to your body? Yes, you are right again: thorough breathing!

If you still read this you may think, this may be some sort of scam, where is this going? Well, let me ask you, how is your breathing right now? Focus for 10 seconds on your breath and tell me how is it going. You may find, that your breathing is steady and relaxed. Good on you! Your brain receives enough oxygen allowing you to read and understand this article. What happens though when you are stressed, upset or going through a tough time? If you pay attention to your breath then, which I doubt, you may find that your breath is short and shallow.  I don’t need to quote a scientific journal nor a research results to tell you that in those situations your brain does not get enough oxygen to access all its higher functions such as: higher feelings, creativity, compassion, love etc. Let me share with you a story that illustrates what I mean.

Once upon a time in the university lab I had an argument with my colleague. It was a heated one and very soon his voice got high and squeaky. Also, I’ve noticed soon after, he’s out of breath. I was just standing there, watching his face getting red. I ask him to calm down but couldn’t get through. He carried on until the point when he couldn’t catch a breath. You could see tension on his face. He had to stop. He didn’t listen to me but surly he had to listed to his body saying: sorry dude, no more oxygen left for this fight, you have to breathe. By the way, he was right and I was wrong. This is an extreme case, I know and I hope it doesn’t happen to you very often. However, how often do you find yourself in distress? Not a massive one but big enough to shorten your breath. Perhaps, on the way to work you were caught in traffic; perhaps you forgot to pick something up, perhaps you partner was late etc. I’m sure you can find at least a couple of examples of your own. Unfortunately, our busy life is filled with those situations from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. If that’s not enough, TV, News, Magazines deliver more of the “breath taking” information. Phones, tablets, laptops. We multitask between one stress and another, constantly pushing through with no time to breath. Even now writing this I find myself holding breath as my body automatically responds to the situations I just described.

This brings me to another important point. There are real life situation that bring your body to a halt. What about all the chatter in your head (a Sushi Train as I call it)? How many imaginary scenarios you make up in your head that have the same effect on your body? Let me show you a simple experiment that illustrate my point. You may need a partner to perform this one. In a lab you would be connected to an instrument via some electrodes that measure your stress level, which you can see on a computer screen. No need for that. Are you familiar with muscle testing? Muscle testing is based on the fact that your body responds to all stimuli that come form internal and external environment. When you see a fast approaching car your body gets tight, when you on the beach listening to the ocean surf, your body (i.e. your muscles) relaxes. Now, stand up with one of your hands extended in front of you. Ask your partner to press it down with a hand; you try to resist it.

When you relaxed you should be able to easily resist the pressure, when stressed the weight of you partner’s arm should be enough to bring you down. Now, take a couple of deep breaths and test your hand again. Is it firm and steady? Good! Now ask your partner to shout at you very loud, imagining you are having a fight. Test again. What did you observe? Take another couple of breaths, ground yourself and retest after a minute or two. You can use this exercise with other scenarios, imaginary and real.

NOW to the revolutionary Oxygen-Rich Brain Diet!

Today, I invite you to try to be aware of your breathing in a stressful situations. When you mediate you are naturally bringing your attention to your body and breath. It may last for a 20 minutes, maybe more. How about rest of your day? Please apply this “oxygen-rich diet” as many times as you notice that your are in distress. Allow your brain to get more fuel so you can feel better.

1-2 MIN OXYGEN-RICH BRAIN DIET:

1. Recognise a stressfull situation: a real or imaginary (i.e. you are caught up in thoughts). I promise, it won’t take long before one happens, don’t hold your breath waiting for it!
2. Drop into your body and search for an obvious tension. Usually it may be your throat or you belly. If it’s more serious stress it may be your lower back or shoulders.
3. Take 3 deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your mouth. If situation permits, on the exhale allow a deep relieving aaaaaaaa…
4. Move on with whatever you were doing. Smile to yourself.
5. Repeat exercise every time you catch yourself being stressed.

If performed frequently enough, it takes only 15 seconds to do it. Also, sometimes simply recognising a stressful situation with the intention of relieving stress is enough to achieve the result. Happy practicing!