Wednesday - Breath

It's funny how much we, I at least, hold my breath without realizing it.

It varies. Sometimes I hold my breath when I'm frustrated. Today, one of the kids I work with at an after school program was giving me a lot of grief. I am new there and he has been testing me since day one. Today was one of those, "if you do it one more time, I'm sending you to the office," days. He did it. I sent him. Or at least I told him to go. And he didn't. He was angry and lifting up the table with his legs (this was the "it" that he did more than one more time). Then he began to yell. It's funny, because I usually think that I am really good in these kinds of situations in that I don't engage and when I do, I never raise my voice or get emotional. Apparently I don't breath either.

Sometimes I hold my breath when I'm really focused on something. Just typing this, or earlier, when I was reading, I found I was repeatedly holding my breath.

I was eating dinner in my car today, something I do way too often as I am on the road throughout the day shuttling between my home, office, clients' homes, schools and various other appointments. Even if I stop and pull over to eat, as I did today, I'm not really taking a break. I realized that I was rushing through my meal, breathing unevenly, still moving even though I was stopped.

Plopping on the couch on the couch with my husband and cat after a long day, a deep sigh comes automatically. Maybe I was actually holding my breath all day. Maybe if I breathe more tomorrow, just stop and breathe deeply every now and then, I won't be gasping or sighing at the end of it. I'll let you know.