“Make conscious breathing your anchor.” Barbara Ann Kipfer[1].

What a tremendous image! “Breathe, breathe, breathe into the paper bag,” folks tell us. “Take a few deep breaths when you’re anxious,” therapists say. “Count to three on the inhale and hold, count to three while exhaling and hold,” the gurus say. There are hundreds and maybe even thousands of techniques for mastering our breathing to achieve everything from relieving anxiety to raising Kundalini energy.

An anchor is with us at all times. Whether we’re in full sail or we’re docked, the anchor is vital to our existence. We can’t survive without breathing. Whether our breathing is shallow (which it’s bound to be at times) or deep into our diaphragm, putting our attention on it – perhaps by visualizing an anchor – making it conscious is bound to help smooth our sailing. I really think Barbara Ann is on to something here. Don’t you?