What are we really trying to accomplish with this project?

If the pattern changes on its own, that's fine, but don't forcibly attempt to make it conform to an image of proper breathing that you may have. Resilience is a function of allowing, not of manipulating. Simply observe your breath as it is. You'll begin to notice subtle movements in your body as you breathe. Perhaps you can feel your belly rise and fall slightly with every breath. Perhaps there's movement in your chest but not in your belly. Observe where your body naturally moves in response to the breath and where it holds still. Again, don't try to change anything about your pattern of breath. Simply observe how it is for you right now. We become aware that we're breathing by observing the movements of the body, the sensations generated by these movements, or the sensations created by the passage of air around the nose and mouth. A lousy habit that gives us no joy is destined for the habit bin. It won't work. With every new habit you consider, make it attractive, easy, satisfying (you did it! For example, you can see the delicious fruit you bought at the market because you arrange it in your fruit bowl, rather than storing it away in the fridge. Clear defines habits as `the compound interest of self-improvement'. Keep track of it As with keeping a gratitude journal, monitoring your progress by keeping a written record of it is highly rewarding (dopamine cupcakes for you! The Headspace meditation tracker does this by recording how many days in a row you've practised your meditation. This is great if, like me, you find it sparks an obsessive determination not to break the chain. Work to a time frame

I want to know if it's for real, she thought just as she passed an angry man walking in the other direction down the road. The man stopped her: Excuse me--where is your husband? Where are your children? You stupid, selfish, childless nuns. You contribute nothing to society. You belong at home, tending to a household. I hate you and your kind. He went on and on. And yet the nun found herself quite curious about him. She noticed his facial expressions, his gestures, a sense of anguish about him. Keep on patiently and passively watching until the awareness of your breathing pattern becomes quite clear to you. On the next three breaths, extend the exhalation as long as possible without causing undue strain. You may want to visualize that a friend is kneeling behind you, pressing down on your rib cage with every exhalation, helping you expel all the gaseous waste from your body. At the very bottom of the exhalation, your friend releases the pressure, and the inhalation comes flooding back into you. After you've taken these three breaths, allow your breath once again to resume whatever pattern is natural to it. Can you remember how your pattern of breath appeared just a few minutes ago, prior to this imaginary intervention? Is it different now? How is it different? Keep allowing your breath to breathe you however it wants throughout this entire exercise. Its pattern may change on its own from one breath to the next.

Choose a start and finish date and mark them in your calendar where they are visible. I usually suggest allowing 90 days -- long enough to establish your new habit and achieve your goal, but not so long that you get bored with your efforts. According to folklore it takes only 21 days to create the beautiful new version of you, but some researchers suggest an average of 66 days depending on the complexity of the desired new habit, the strength of your desire to achieve it, and the support you have to hold you to your word. Find an accountability buddy Share your goal for change with your partner, a family friend or a colleague, so they can help keep you accountable. They may even choose to accompany you on your journey. For example, buddy groups for weight loss are more effective than flying solo, and you get to celebrate your wins along the way. Life is not perfect You are not perfect, but you are perfectly adapted to follow the path that will enable you to: Are you ready to be the truly happy, thriving human you know you can be?The Worst Is Over had the honor of being dubbed the `bible' for crisis communication by The International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. She also noticed the sensations of fear and defensiveness in her own body, and she remained in touch with those feelings even as she listened closely. He continued berating her, but instead of reacting, she took in each word that he was saying, responding, Oh. How interesting you feel this way. Please, tell me more. The man became even more infuriated. Are you even listening to me? I'm saying that I hate you. Oh yes, you've made that quite clear, she said. But, let me ask you: Suppose I'm at home and I hear a knock at my door. I open the door and find someone wanting to come in, and I welcome them as a guest into my home.

If that happens, allow it, but don't feel that you need to change it in any way for any reason. Now bring your attention back to your hands as they rest on your belly, one on top of the other. Surrender the weight of your hands and belly to gravity, and feel the sensations of relaxation enter this area of your body. As you continue to breathe in this relaxed condition, you'll begin to notice that your hands aren't still. The movements that you can detect may be subtle, but they're very real. As your breath causes movement in your belly, you can feel your hands move ever so slightly in response. Perhaps they move up toward the ceiling on the inhalation and back down on the exhalation, like a piece of driftwood floating on ocean waves. Perhaps they slide slightly away from each other on the inhalation and back together on the exhalation. There's no correct way for them to move. There's only your way. Since that time, we have been invited to teach Verbal First Aid and how to use words to set the course for recovery to doctors, nurses, first responders, and other healthcare professionals throughout the United States and in England. The Verbal First Aid protocol has steadily grown to become the standard of care for emergencies and our e-mail boxes are filled with reports of its successes out in the field. In 2008, when China experienced devastating earthquakes and floods in which eighty thousand people died and millions were displaced, we were asked to teach crisis counselors there this protocol. Dr Helena Guo, who had invited us, described Verbal First Aid to government officials this way: It's therapy you can use in the streets, in the schools, wherever you are. And the government approved the program on the spot. Then it occurred to us, if Verbal First Aid works this beautifully in such difficult circumstances, imagine the difference it can make if begun early enough in a child's life to become part of what has been called their hard wiring as they faced each of life's challenges. Children's brains are developing with every encounter they have with their environment. It is generally agreed in early childhood education circles that what is learned in the formative years affects not only the child but the adult she will become and her ability to learn and to regulate her own emotions throughout her whole life. We decided to write this article to help parents, teachers, pediatricians, nurses, baby-sitters, anyone who takes care of a child, to help that child create a mind-set that will allow him to heal faster and more comfortably whether from larger crises or from kitchen-variety boo-boos. We believe that the principles of Verbal First Aid should be everyone's birthright.

As the guest enters, I notice they're holding something in their hands. I look at the gift and decide that I don't really want it. And so, I tell them, `Thank you so much, but no. I appreciate the offer, but I can't accept your gift. It belongs to the guest, of course. Exactly! And in the same way, today I have welcomed you into my home, into my personal space, and I've listened to your words. And you truly are welcome here--but this gift of aggression and hatred you're offering me? I don't want it. It's yours to keep. Stay as relaxed as possible, and you'll discover how your hands move in response to your breath. Spend a number of breaths familiarizing yourself with this movement. Is it the same from breath to breath, or does it change? Now forcibly cause your hands to stay still. Don't allow any movement at all in this part of your body, and observe what happens elsewhere. What happens to your breath? What happens to your sensations of relaxation? What happens in your mind? Holding still in any one small area generates a subtle pattern of holding that spreads to affect the whole body. Releasing holding in any one small part of the body encourages release everywhere else as well.