Today, I was to focus on my breathing for ten slow breaths. When I had a thought I would simply observe it and label it as “thinking”. This is a lot easier to do when you’re not experiencing intense emotions.
The last few days I’ve been practicing breathing and thoughts barely came up. Today was my first time doing it in a difficult situation. Again, rage. It may not have calmed me significantly but there may have been a tiny barely noticable shift in the level of anger I was experiencing. I can neither confirm or deny if this had any effect on me.
What I do know though, is that scheduled practice of deep breathing is a lot easier than deep breathing in a crisis. I kept getting distracted without even noticing. I think this was because I was more focused on getting the breaths done and over with, than I was in observing the breaths. I need to learn to be patient. This may sound hilarious but deep breathing makes me super impatient.
Tomorrow, I’m on to defusing images using the TV Screen technique. This is a big one for me as it’s something I have major problems with.
Wish me luck, and minimal trauma!
ChinUps 'n' PinUps 