breath before pressure

"None of us actually think about the mechanics of how we walk as we are ambling along - we are thinking about what we are going to have for dinner, or what we are going to say at our next meeting, etc.

But now imagine that you are walking along a narrow path with a 10,000 foot precipice on either side. Now, we might think about how we are moving our feet, the angle of our tread, the precise footfall on the path. And this, of course, is when we are most likely to fall.  reading the main storyBut now imagine that you are walking along a narrow path with a 10,000 foot precipice on either side. Now, we might think about how we are moving our feet, the angle of our tread, the precise footfall on the path. And this, of course, is when we are most likely to fall.

Walking is, when you think about it, quite a complex set of movements and if we think too much about them we are far more likely to get confused. This, incidentally, is why walking feels so weird when we are in front of a lot of people, like at graduation." 

(Should people accept that pressure is a fact of life?, BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17874450)

this article continues to describe a string of situations in which we feel stress and pressure. if walking is so complex, what is not? 

breath. 

breathing is the most fundamental activity we as living organisms can engage in. EVERYTHING else builds on this. managing to be aware of your own breathing brings you back to step one in any situation. practising this awareness is key to gaining a focused and stable mind. it is also the first and last step to gaining and maintaining a healthy body.