Just Breathe

Our Healthy Happy Wonderful tip for this week is JUST BREATHE...

I've been witness to a few heated exchanges on Facebook recently. And arguments on the street, in cafes, road rage.

Just breathe dahlinks. Bigger sorrows and tragedies will wash these positional stoushes into appropriate perspective. I was a human rights lawyer for most of my adult life. You could say I fought for a living. So trust me when I tell you that love, kindness, empathy and understanding are so much more powerful - and often so much harder to muster.

So many disagreements are just not worth it. They arise from irritation, aggravation, misunderstanding and ingrained reaction.

So here's my advice: 

• Your initial reaction of hurt, anger or outrage does not have to be your inevitable response.
• Take a breath. Insert a pause between what you have just taken in and how you are going to respond. 
• It's OK to feel your instinctive reaction rise. But Just Breathe. Let it go. Mindfulness is a great tool to help you so this. But so is Just Taking A Breath.
• The only time anyone can "win" an argument is in a court room. Everywhere else, it's just a waste of time.
• These days my most precious possessions are the harsh, unkind, impatient words I refuse to give voice to. 
• Insert a pause. 
• Take a breath. 
• And if you have to react, do it with awareness (and kindness if you can muster it).