INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY: CONFIDENCE AND FAITH

Happy International Women's Day.  

Read the blog post or watch the video here

It's a special day for all of us. 

Today, we celebrate women's social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. Our call to action today is for improving women's equality.

Welcome to Day 2 of our 5 part March Mindfulness, every Tuesday in March 2022. 

Indra Nooyi, the former Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo, noted in futurewoman.com:

“The next few decades are the decades of women. Women should dream big. They should have total CONFIDENCE in themselves,” she said. 

“Don’t let anybody take away your confidence. It’s yours. Bank it, and keep building stuff that you can bank. And if you ever feel like your confidence is being sapped, go get a shot of confidence from somewhere. Because you can overcome anything if you’ve got confidence.” https://futurewomen.com/leadership/former-pepsico-ceo-indra-nooyi-confident-women-your-time-is-now/

Confidence is the belief in yourself in all aspects of life, balancing home and business, personal and professional. A way to get a “shot of confidence'' is as easy as having FAITH in your strength and ability. Faith is believing in something bigger, a power and grace, helping you.

Faith lets you know/feel/see that what you're doing is right for you.  
Faith in how you and others live together, sharing space and time.
Faith that we are taken care of by something much bigger than us.

What may feel like a setback or problem is just a stepping stone to strength, inner power and greater confidence.

Confidence is internal, and confidence grows and flows with experience.

When you have confidence, it is apparent in all situations

There's a calmness with confidence. 

There's activity and dynamism with confidence. 

People want to be around others who are confident, humble, and caring. 

Happiness requires both confidence and faith.

Though anxiety, fear and the unknown can shake confidence, there is a secret. Let me share it with you. 

Anxiety is experienced through the nervous system, with the fight, flight or freeze responses to situations, events and people. When you feel something fluttering inside, and you call it anxiety, change the word to excitement. With excitement, do you feel expansion? and your confidence expands too? The sensations of anxiety in the body are the same sensations as excitement. Consciously change your words and note how the nerves and mind changes.

Another key to relaxing the nervous system and wellness is with conscious breathing. 

Bumblebee Breath: Using this breath to calm the nerves is as simple as humming. Take a breath in through the nose, and on the outbreath hum, mouth closed, at as high a pitch you can. Do this two more times: Breathe into the nose and out hum. How are you feeling? Probably, calmer, more in charge. The vibrations you create change the nerves.

The environment around you, the vibrations around you, also change and calm.

Use this breath at home, at work, traveling or stationary. Confidence is so important for us to be able to act in the world and to feel confident with what we're doing. 

Diaphragmatic breathing: It can be hard to talk when emotions are strong. One way to overcome this restriction and help confidence is to do diaphragmatic breathing. First, through the nose, take a slow breath into the belly, with the belly pushing out. Then, with the belly moving towards the spine, breathing through the nose or the mouth, take a slow breath out. 

Sometimes when I'm speaking, and I feel the excitement rising. I ask my audience to all take a deep breath in and out together. I'm always surprised and delighted at how people enjoy this. One breath together brings us all into the same space. That helps calm and focus, and us all to be present together.

Diaphragm breathing in and out brings us to our center, the source of our power. In our power,  when we speak, we can project better and change the tone, the quality and the delivery of what we share. 

Nostril Breathing: We have two nostrils, and each has a specific function, and they help each other. Paying attention, you start noticing that approximately every 20 minutes, one nostril or the other is stronger. The right nostril is related to the left brain. The left nostril is related to the right side of the brain.

The brain is part of the central nervous system, which has two parts, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic sides. The sympathetic side, the left side, controls arousal, fight or flight. The parasympathetic, the right side of the brain, controls relaxation. 

Each nostril is connected to a different energy. The right nostril is related to solar warm energy and the left nostril to lunar or moon cool energy,   With each nostril taking a turn to be dominant, it automatically keeps our balance. 

Three options for nostril breathing: 

• To warm up the body, breathe in and out through the right nostril. When cold, breathe in and out through the right nostril to activate more solar energy and warm your body. 

• To cool the body, breathe in and out through the left nostril. When too warm, and you want to cool down, breathe in and out, through the left nostril to activate lunar energy. 

•  Alternate nostril breathing is where we breathe in through the first nostril and out through the second, and then reverse the process by. 

I recommend we start breathing into the left nostril (parasympathetic side of the brain to open calmness) and out through the right nostril (the sympathetic to reduce stress). Then, keeping the right nostril open, breathe in and then close it and breathe out through the left nostril. This counts as one breath.

• Position: Take your right thumb on your right nostril. Place your right ring finger on the left nostril and the pinky beside it, and the middle two fingers place between the eyebrows. Use the thumb and ring finger to alternately open and close the nostril as you breathe.   The left hand can rest on your left leg, palm facing up, wherever comfortable.

• Close your eyes to focus on yourself. Experience alternate nostril breathing for 5 slow breaths. The breath is gentle and deep. When you complete 5 breaths, place both hands on your legs and sit quietly for a few more slow breaths to observe sensations.

Have a wonderful International Women's Day!!

Today and every day this week, honour and celebrate the women in your life, celebrate the women in the world.  Express the benefits you have from women friends and family, women leaders and peers. Recognize, applaud and encourage their confidence and faith.  Recognize, applaud and encourage your confidence and faith. 

How can I help you expand your confidence and faith?

Watch the YouTube Video Here