Sarah Dutton

For the past 10+ years, I have had a wonderful meditation and breathing practice that has brought me relief from anxiety, a greater sense of calm, and increased focus in my day-to-day life. A while ago, I had been under a tremendous amount of stress due to all kinds of curveballs that life had been throwing at me.

I realized that I had been neglecting my health and putting my mindfulness practice by the wayside when this huge surge in stress began to take over my body. I had an anxious pit in my stomach, my sleep was being interrupted, and I was starting to worry more than normal.

I quickly realized that I was uncomfortable with the direction my mind and body were heading. I thought about the last time I had actually sat and meditated or practiced my breathing exercises while driving in the car. I couldn't recall. Clearly, it had been too long. So, I intentionally recommitted myself to my daily practice of meditation and breathwork.

What I've learned is that it doesn't take long to bring back that good habit of meditating and breathing because I can quickly recognize how effectively it helps me manage my life in a more positive and efficient way.

Can I briefly bring in some science for those of you who love the background and the "why" behind beginning or continuing a mindfulness practice?

Okay, so here's what's super cool about our brains. We have this almond-shaped structure inside our brain called the amygdala. This is what tells our body when something is safe or not. If something is perceived as dangerous, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in and puts our body into fight-or-flight mode.

Have you ever heard of that or felt it? That's when our adrenaline kicks in, our hearts might race, and we may have a hard time thinking clearly. This response does serve a purpose for us. For example, if you're standing in the middle of the street and a car rushes out of nowhere, you need to jump out of the way to save your life, right? It can also kick in if we are under stress due to financial concerns, a job layoff, relationship troubles, etc.

However, it's not a good idea for our bodies or our overall health if we stay in a constant state of fight-or-flight mode. This can lead to potential long-term health problems. (Think heart disease, anxiety, weight gain, and the list goes on.) We need to shut it off, and one of the single most effective ways to do that is by beginning a breathing practice or, for some, picking up where we left off and continuing our practice.

This simple practice can help kick-start our parasympathetic nervous system, which is another cool part of our nervous system that helps counteract the sympathetic nervous system. Isn't our body amazing? It knows exactly what to do to take care of itself. We just need to listen.

I have started to listen more intently to my body again and bring myself back to the breath. It just takes a few days of discomfort and the fear that anxiety-induced panic may force itself back into my life for me to wake up and realize that a garden cannot go untended for too long before the weeds start to take root.

So, if you're feeling overwhelmed by the stressors of day-to-day life and need to bring it down a notch, remember to bring it back to the breath. Even if you feel great and want to maintain that feeling, gently remind yourself to always bring it back to the breath.

Here are two easy ways to jump-start your breathing practice, which can be a wonderful way to begin a meditation practice when you are ready.

1. Be intentional about your breath. Stop three times a day and focus solely on your breathing for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, noticing it as it moves in and out of your nostrils. After you have learned to recognize your breath, move on to #2. This could take days, weeks, or even months. Be patient. (This exercise can be a simple foundation for a meditation practice.)

2. If you are just beginning to incorporate a breathing practice into your life, start by inhaling to the count of 3 or 4, then exhaling to the count of 6 or 8. Your exhale should be twice as long as your inhale. Go through this cycle 3 or 4 times, twice a day. You can work up to 6 or 7 counts as you practice this more. Feel free to increase the number of breaths or the amount of time you practice, as long as you feel comfortable and are not becoming lightheaded or anxious.

Best wishes with tending your garden. You are going to feel GREAT!

As always, I am available to talk with you regarding any questions you have about incorporating mindfulness into your daily life, training for businesses or schools, and one-on-one coaching. Email me at sarah@thevirtuouscircle.net. Visit my website at www.thevirtuouscircle.net or find me on Facebook at Sarah E. Dutton, The Virtuous Circle. Please be sure to like my page to see updates on my offerings.

Growing up in a town of just over 1,900 people in rural Minnesota during the '70s and '80s, I am pretty sure that, if memory serves me right, I NEVER had a kiwi in my refrigerator at home. NOW, I can go to just about any grocery store and purchase a kiwi whenever I want to. Growing up in a rural Minnesota town at that time, there were a lot of things I didn't have.

I didn't have confidence, the mental fortitude to feel capable sometimes, or access to mental health practitioners who could help ease my struggles or give me the nudge that could have sent me along a path toward a healthier body and soul sooner. But what I did have was a community of friends and family who loved me without judgment (most of the time) and loved me with all their hearts.

It has been a long and wandering road since I left my hometown so many years ago. There have been many divots in the road and many heavy rocks that looked too big to pry off the path. Sometimes, I would sit behind the rocks, frustrated by the burden of lifting them or rolling them to the side, and it seemed like too much to bear. Other times, I would manage to maneuver myself around their jagged edges or jump over them, ignoring their massive structure as if they were never there. There were also many tears, outbursts of frustration, and sidesteps that took me off my path of good intentions.

I experienced a plethora of emotions on this winding and rugged path. I felt disconnected, shameful, sad, forlorn, curious, wondering, confused, passive, dismissive, jaded, and pensive. Even as I attempted to manage these permeating feelings, somehow I always knew that I still had my community. They may have seemed far off in the distance in my rearview mirror or like a smudged view through my lens of everyday life. I was fortunate to have grown up surrounded by adults who loved me. I guess that's what pushed me to keep moving rocks throughout my life.

In my humble, small Midwestern town, I had grandparents nearby, and we would have Sunday dinner together every week, unless we were out of town, until they all passed away, which was unfortunately too soon. My dad's twin sister was in my hometown as well, so even after my grandparents died, she was still a defining presence in my life and joined us for those weekly dinners. Looking back, I know that until I became a sullen and brooding teen, I relished those Sunday dinners of piping-hot roast meat of some kind, along with roasted vegetables, hot dishes, and stews.

My mother was a Home Economics teacher, so rest assured, we always had a mid-century version of a balanced meal of "meat, potatoes (or some type of starch), vegetables, and a salad." Even though the "salad" may have been a canned pear half with a dollop of Old Home small-curd cottage cheese nestled inside the indentation at the center of the pear. And the coup de grâce was the sprinkle of paprika on top of the cottage cheese. Why the sprinkle of paprika? For color, of course!

Within our community, there was always food. Whether someone had died, a baby was born, someone was being confirmed, was in the hospital, had just come home from the hospital, or was just "stopping by on their way up to the family cabin," there was the ever-present food.

Community and food are forever linked and engrained in my DNA at this point. Whenever my kids come by for a weekend visit, to watch the Super Bowl, or for holidays, I always ask, "What should we have to eat?" This is how my family has come together for generations, with food at the center, or at least on the coffee table as a snack.

My small-town community supported me as well as they could with the resources they had at the time, and that, too, will always be forever engrained in me. I didn't have kiwi fruit, and I didn't have professional help at my fingertips to guide me as a kid who was struggling with identity and mental health challenges. But I know what I did have was eternal support through social connectivity, long, lingering dinners at the table, hugs, and a well-intentioned laugh when things felt really hard.