Here’s a way to supercharge your mornings, help you get more “present,” and even (really?) get laid more often!
The practice is called “Morning Breaths.” When I was facilitating the Authentic Man Program in San Francisco, we would send guys home most evenings with a lot of homework. This practice was one of my favorites to assign (and to do myself).
It’s super simple: After you wake up, but before you get out of bed in the morning, take ten slow, deep breaths. That’s it.
Here are some pointers to get the most out of the practice.
- Put ALL of your attention on the experience of breathing. If you start thinking about your to-do list for the day, or anything else, just bring your focus back to your breath. Think of it as a ten-breath meditation.
- Fill your lungs from the bottom to the top. The best way to do this is to start with a “belly breath”: Let your belly rise as you inhale into the lowest lobes of your lungs, then let the mid-chest rise, and finally fill the topmost lobes with the last bit of air.
- Push out all the air in your lungs on your exhale, insuring you get a full lungful on the next breath.
- Nose or mouth breathing are both OK. Experiment and see what feels best for you. (FYI, a mouth breath will generally get you more in touch with your feelings. Nose breathing will create a more yogic, or transcendent experience.) You can also combine the two: Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth.
Try this practice for seven days and see if 1) you need less caffeine to get your day rolling, and 2) you start to turn women’s heads just a little more often.
