Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breath out. Hold it for five seconds, release for five seconds. Repeat.

This weeks’ readings of walking in the woods with Pooh, chapter two and three discuss how to keep your mind and your body in the present. It talks about how we can accidently overwhelm ourselves. We all have different ways of dealing with things so it is important to try to find a basic structure that everyone can mold in their own way.

Having different breathing exercises is an important part of keeping both your mind and your body in the here and now. We all day dream and zone out to the different pasts or futures we go into. Going in and out of these things can mentally drain us. If we are mentally drained then we can get physically and emotionally drained as well.

It is easy for the mind and the body to harm each other. Both can be distant. Both can be neutral. Both can be separated in a way from each other. The mind can be away but the body can stay in the present and vice versa. The book goes through how stress and anxiety can overwhelm us and take us away from enjoying what is right in front of us.

Everything starts with a purpose. We can run ourselves to empty very easy if we do not keep our mind and body in the present. The book goes through simple steps to make sure we always start our day in the present. Along with the things discussed in the introduction and in chapter one, we need to pay attention to a few other things.

1. Think about the way you do everything. Replay and think about every little movement in the things you do, even down to how you blink and breathe. By thinking and being aware of the specific way you do something, it is easier to stay in the present.

2. If we match our breathing with our awareness, it is easy to pull ourselves back from where our mind and body disappear to. Breathing and taking a moment to pause helps pull us back to reality.

Remember in order to be successful teachers, we must teach ourselves first. It is okay if things have to be put off until the next day. We #dontrunonempty very well and we don’t need to start.

Breathe in, breathe out, repeat.

Parent, J. (2018) A walk in the wood: Meditation on mindfulness with a bear named pooh