Reading the book Air Mail by Pam Houston and Amy Irvine, just out today. It is made up of letters between these two wonderful writers from March through May of this year of Covid and deals with not only the pandemic, but politics, environment and more.
At one point Irvine speaks of a video that deals with brain changes that take place when anger or fear or anxiety are triggered. "...the reptilian brain takes over...we cannot resolve conflict, cannot feel compassion, cannot create solutions." It goes on to state that taking seven deep breaths can put one back in the frontal cortex--area of reasoning, calm and empathy.
Wow! Knowing this in the past didn't matter. Reading it in the moment stopped me in my tracks. Too often of late I and so many others have been thrown into that reptilian goo by the daily news updates. Seven breaths. Could it really be this simple? Can the heart pumping upset be stilled so easily? Can I really let go of comments that send me into orbit?
This election year has seen an increase in that heart pounding angst like never before. Sure, it's tripled and then some by dealing with a pandemic, but.... OK. Seven breaths. Seven more, if needed. And even seven more. Would that others around the nation could follow this example...PLEASE
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