Breathe, meditate, eat

We take breathing for granted and yet it is one of our most vital functions.   In our respiration process, we breathe in oxygen into our body, going through our system in the form of energy to charge our body parts.  Then we exhale carbon dioxide and take away all toxic wastes from our body.  This is supposed to attain the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our body.

Because of our daily stresses, we tend to breathe short and shallow, depriving ourselves of enough oxygen to sustain our vital body parts.  We use only a fraction of our lungs to infuse oxygen to our heart and brains,which results in complications such as sleep disorders, inability to focus, and fatigue. 

Recently, I experienced all of the above because of a stressful major house cleaning that I forced myself to undertake.  I felt so stifled by the clutter around me, which was not the case when I first transferred to my residence six years ago. Way back then, my place was picture-perfect minimalism.  Recently, while looking for an item I could not find, I realized that I had filled up all my nooks and crannies with all kinds of junk.  It is truly pathetic how I got carried away by so much crass commercialism when detachment is supposedly my mantra!  It is beyond me that I have accumulated 20 pieces of luggage in different shapes and sizes. The only sane thing to do was to clear up the clutter and donate them to a worthy cause. 

The cleaning-up process took longer (two weeks!) than I expected and caused a lot of stress, allergies, and asthma.  I was so burnt out that I found myself languishing in bed for hours.  

A miraculous phone call rescued me from my vegetative state.  My fairy godfather this time was Manny Osmeña, a friend of old standing, who called to invite me to check out his newly opened hotel, the Movenpick Resorts and Spa in Mactan.  The invitation was music to my ears and a stay at Movenpick was all that I needed to recharge and rejuvenate my body, mind, and spirit. 

The moment I stepped foot on the all-white minimalist lobby, a feeling of calm settled my frayed nerves.  The choice of white walls and furniture pieces with splashes of blue and yellow in the accent chairs and pillows was refreshing and tasteful.  

I joined a yoga class, which was relaxing because of the breathing exercises. After the yoga, I took a chaise lounge on the white sand beach fronting the sea and continued my deep breathing exercises.  I learned that deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body.  When you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brains to calm down and relax.  The brain then sends the message to your body and all the things that happen when you are stressed, such as high blood pressure, palpitations, etc., all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax.  

There are so many kinds of breathing exercises so choose the one which is best for your condition.  There are breathing exercises for anxiety, for weight loss, for relaxation, for asthma, for yoga, panic attacks, etc.   

I do my breathing exercises seated in a comfortable position.  I close my eyes and inhale from my lungs and diaphragm. I inhale to the count of three, filling up my lungs, and exhale to the count of four.  I focus on my breath for five minutes.  While deep breathing I try to clear my mind of all thoughts, using it like a meditation process.  

I did my breathing exercises at sunset during  my three-day stay at Movenpick. With the calm blue sea as my view, palm trees swaying with the breeze, and clear blue skies, I was transported to paradise. 

The cuisine at Movenpick is varied.  It caters to everybody’s taste, lifestyle, and religion.  At the Ibiza Beach Club, there is the Churrasco Grill and Tapas bar.  It offers different grilled meats and seafood on skewers, and an array of salads and tapas.  Needless to say, award- winning Manny O wines are on the menu for wine lovers.  There are daily breakfast and lunch buffets at the lobby Cafe, which offers healthy, low-calorie dishes for diet-conscious clients as well as calorie-filled delicacies for those who don’t care about their diet.  One thing for sure, whether I chose to eat healthy or gourmet, every meal I had at Movenpick was a gustatory experience. 

The Spa del Mar at Movenpick is one of the bonuses of the resort. It has clean, modern interiors and their treatments and well-trained therapists are world class.  I chose to have a deep hot stone massage after a gym workout.  My therapist Tess smoothed out all the kinks in my tense, worked-out muscles.   

A holiday, whether short or long is a good break to recharge one’s burnt-out batteries.  But anywhere we are, even just in the comfort of our homes, let us find a quiet time for ourselves and do our breathing exercises.  If one has no time to go to a yoga class, go to Google which has a lot of breathing exercises to choose from.

— Source of breathing exercises:  WebMD-Stress Management Health Center