Take a Moment to Breathe!

The iKonnect team wants to remind you to take a few moments to slow down! Often, we are so engaged in our busy lives, running around from thing to thing, that we forget to stop and take in the world around us, and the world inside of us! Especially now, as things have been gradually shifting from a year of lockdown, as we dangle between normalcy and caution and step into a 4th election, we could all use a little moment of calm.

Whatever you are doing today, tomorrow, and the rest of the week, challenge yourself to see if you can take a few minutes to sit and breathe. Try listening to your own breath, the birds around you, or the hum of the traffic outside. The goal is just to notice, without doing anything. For a few moments, the focus is on being instead of doing.

Breathing exercise:

In Hebrew, each letter of the “aleph bet” corresponds to a number. Aleph to 1, bet to 2, and so on…

The word חדוה in Hebrew means joy. If we take the numbers of the word, we get : 8, 4, 6, 5

Inhale for 8 counts

Hold for 4 counts

Exhale for 6 counts

Hold for 5 counts

Do about 4-5 rounds of this breathing, and step into a place of חדוה!