Each morning they wake up, guzzle down gallons of Coca Cola, cram their mouths with chocolate bars… before grabbing their coat and heading to Pizza Hut for breakfast.

And the benefits of lower stress levels are obvious and extremely well proven: a stronger immune system, better digestions, better sleeping patterns, less migraines… I could go on with this list for a very long time.

For me the most interesting benefit of learning to breathe better is the immediate boost in emotional awareness that our students report. That is, the ability to think objectively and be more aware of their emotions rather than just acting on them automatically and compulsively.

Why is emotional awareness important?

• In a stressful meeting it’s the person who thinks most clearly that wields the most influence

• In an exam it’s the student who keeps her mind serene and focussed that gets the best grades

• And it’s the sportsman who knows how to breathe correctly that has the winning edge over his competitors

I better go now but if you would like to learn more about breathing you’re more than welcome to pop into our school and ask one of our friendly instructors for some free 1-to-1 advice.

We also run regular classes specifically about breathing (because we think it’s so important).

Gustavo Cardoso

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And what do I gain by increasing it?

According to the dictionary, concentration is to give full attention and energy to something.

Everyday I hear people say that if only they were interrupted less during their daily activities, their productivity and focus would greatly increase.

But what do I gain from increasing my concentration?

You gain increased productivity and more energy to get things done. This is because a well-trained mind makes everything easier and more efficient. You will not have to do the same things over again because you had not noticed small mistakes in the first place. Increased productivity often means more free time for you, for your children, family, sports etc …

When was the last time you trained your concentration?

Most people do not train their concentration. This is because it is still an unknown discipline and perhaps somewhat obscure to us.

But I assure you, a little dedication in your routine and you will feel your productivity soar.

There is nothing more powerful than a well-trained mind.

When you combine concentration + discipline + focus, you are unstoppable. This clearly defines those that succeed in life and those who do not. Those who haven’t this powerful tool in their hands invariably share the same self talk: “it’s because he is lucky”, “God is with him”, “it looks like he was made ​​for it”, “the stars help” and a bunch of further excuses.

A well-trained mind produces wealth and harmony around you, driving emotional stability and happiness.

Do I need to spend 6 months in Tibet or India dressed in strange clothes?

These things described above have a name: prejudice, fantasy, myth. Increasing your ability to concentrate depends uniquely and exclusively on whether you train, engage and direct your attention to such a thing. Nothing else makes excellent exercise of concentration, as it does to keep working where you work, live where you live and with whom you live.

What does what I eat, drink and smoke have to do with my concentration?

With much experience working in this area, we can guarantee that these are things known to really “drain” your attention and your body. This happens when the body is not well maintained, with excellent maintenance, when you keep ignoring it and do not exercise it, when you keep eating poorly, drinking, and pretending that back pain has gone after all). However disciplined you are, you will not have the same productivity, as it the body hasn’t got any outlet.

A McLaren running with diesel?

Ever imagined a Formula 1 car, racing with a flat tyre, or working with diesel instead of petrol?

Yeah, your body is not much different. And, quite simply, if badly maintained, the most developed machine in this universe will yield 30, 40 and even 70% less than it should. You know what I’m talking about, when you have those days when you simply cannot concentrate. When the work does not get done. When it seems that everything is out of order for no apparent reason.

And why are you not looking at what you did during the day or days earlier – such as sleep less, eat more at dinner, inject caffeine into the body and allow stress to dominate your day.

Alcohol, the silent villain

This is a taboo subject in our society, wherever you go in the world the human being makes use of narcotics (from ancient Greek ναρκῶ Närko, ‘Ι benumb’), yet the body always pays a price. The seat of consciousness exists in our brain, and to receive any amount of alcohol, however small, will create alterations, causing decreased concentration and small lapses of consciousness, imperceptible to the individual, but increasing the reduction of concentration.

Very far from your reality?

That lapse of a few minutes lost when you had to remember those passwords or keys or mobile phone that you lost during the day, all these minutes add up to a few days of work in one year’s time. Time that you could have spent with family, friends, doing sports etc …

I do not want to become a ninja or a Karate Kid

Again, these myths created by Hollywood films deter people with excellent development potential, to whom it would be natural to increase concentration, gain memory and clarity of thought. And with nothing more than closing the eyes and train a simple technique of concentration for a few minutes.

I do not believe any of these things

Provided you are executing them well, the wonder of these techniques is that you do not need to believe in them. You can tell a massage therapist you do not believe in his or her techniques, but if he or she is good, the techniques will surely produce the effects. You could also say that you do not believe in anesthesia from a dentist, but I do not believe that you would undergo a dental filling without such an injection, even if you do not believe in it.

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Attention has also been referred to the allocation of the processing of resources.
Alcohol That is the principle given to ardent spirit and wine. Their intoxicating power, while the narcotic principle to opium and tobacco imparts similar properties. In popular language, alcohol is classed among the stimulants, and opium and tobacco among the narcotics; which substances are whose ultimate effect upon the beast system is to produce torpor and insensibility, but taken in small quantities they exhilarate at first. And since alcohol does the same, most medical writers, at the present day, class it among the narcotics.

- Edward Hitchcock, American Temperance Society (1830)

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According to the Oxford Dictionary of English: Meditation means “focus(ing) one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.”

This is a very interesting definition, but clearly for someone who has studied the matter its flaws become clear. The state of meditation, or dhyána, is a state which can be described as linear intuition. Its technique certainly allows for the mind to be focused and may use symbols (interestingly referenced in the definition as silence, for no one observing someone metalizing a symbol will be able to hear anything!) or sounds (which the definition above refers to chanting).

The purpose of meditating, however, has never been a subject of debate. Whilst the roots that influence different types of practices may be naturalistic or religious, the goal of meditation is to achieve a higher state of consciousness, that of linear intuition.

In order to achieve this state, DeRose Method students train their technical execution on Friday at 5pm.

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“- Every time I keep a young men away from drugs, smoke and alcohol, I am changing the world”

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