“I can’t stop thinking about breathing,” my 10-year-old complained. He was lobbying for permission to watch YouTube videos as he fell asleep. He’s always fighting off bedtime. I could see by the look on his face (and the irregularity of his breaths) that he was, in fact, thinking of breathing.
I suppose I was also around his age when I came to the same realization. Breathing is automatic until you think about it. As soon as it comes to mind, breathing shifts into manual mode. It’s one of life’s little peculiarities.
I’ve never been one who focused much on intentional breathing. I hear it’s important for self-regulation and all that. The only time I think about breathwork is when my watch chirps, “Take a minute to breathe.” Luckily, breathing still happens even when I forget, unlike other healthy habits that slip my mind.
Yet I wonder if being intentional about my breath would be beneficial. I’ve made some improvements over the last several months, such as commitments to reflective writing, reading to improve my attention span, and even being better about how I feed and move my body. Maybe some box breathing would do me some good, too.
Reading has been a conscious choice. And I continually fight the allure of the algorithms and easy dopamine hits. Walking outside each day takes intentionality and energy. Endeavoring to write each day for 100 days has been a struggle, but it has been worthwhile to dig deep into that well.
What else moves along through my life without much thought? Where else could I see my quality of life improve by shifting my mindset into a more manual mode?
I can’t pay attention to everything all the time. But maybe I should start being a little more conscious of some things that have become too automatic.
Besides, I do fight off bedtime just like my boy. That might be a good place for me to start.