Your Breath Is A Weapon. Learn How To Use It.

I didn’t realise the amount of tension that I was carrying until someone taught me how to breath.

One Sunday afternoon I took a trip down to the driving range to practise.

But this Sunday turned into a day I will never forget.

As I got down there there were two blokes practising.

One younger fella who is really good accompanied by an older head.

I was trying to focus on myself but I couldn’t help but overhear their interaction.

The older fella was giving some useful tips.

He was someone who you could listen to all day with the way that he speaks.

He was someone who you would make time for and someone who enjoys helping others.

But it wasn’t just the tips, it was the way he was explaining them.

The younger fella was blown away to which I tried to implement what I heard.

It didn’t work the way I had hoped.

So I waited until the younger lad departed and I went over to the old timer.

I said to him; “Excuse me mate, I saw that you were giving that other lad some very good tips and I need some help with getting better and being more consistent.”

To which he willingly decided to help me.

After some tips on my swing and ball striking, he then said to me,

“Right, before you strike that ball I want you to breath in and to take a big breath out through your mouth.”

“You’re letting go of all the tension in your body.”

So, I concentrated properly, the tension in my shoulders began to fall away from me like meat from a bone.

My grip was less tight.

Instead of rushing I was more fluid.

I felt completely relaxed after my exhale.

I couldn’t believe the results.

The swing felt effortless.

I was producing consistent shots as the ball flew higher & further.

I was hitting more than 5 clean shots, not entirely perfect, but the basis was there.

To me it seemed like a fluke at first, so I tried it again, again and again with his supervision and it turns out it wasn’t a fluke at all.

Eventually I realised that the power wasn’t directly coming from forcing power into the swing. It was coming from letting go and believing in myself.

I was pinging balls down the range like no tomorrow.

This wasn’t just about golf.

I realised that I had been carrying the same tension into nearly everything that I was doing.

The previous occasions when I tried to use my breath to release the tension it didn’t work.

Why? Because I wasn’t thinking about releasing the tension and thinking about my next action.

I was too tense through various scenarios,

In the gym.

When talking to women.

When writing.

At work.

During conversations with strangers.

I was trying to perform but I was carrying the tension with everything that I did.

The old fella said to me, “We hold a lot of tension within us. Just because you messed up once, don’t beat yourself up.”

I was honest and I told him, “I always end up doing this to myself.”

So I began to realise that the breath becomes the reset.

Exhale - Release the tension - Forget the previous mistake - Concentrate on the next outcome.

Imagine completing a task or an action where your self-talk is negative.

Negative self talk changes the outcome of your actions.

You hit a poor shot.

The shot has now gone.

Instead of letting go, you keep on replaying it.

You criticise yourself and beat yourself up for it.

Your grip tightens.

This feeling then continued into your next shot.

You begin to over think your next shot and you start think of everything that can go wrong.

The mistake is history.

Now you’re carrying the tension that was created by the mistake.

Our words, similar to our breath, also carry a similar power.

Words carry the weight on the meaning whether positive or negative, so why are you speaking down upon yourself?

If you tell yourself constantly that you will fail, then you’re next action will mimic this very feeling as you are carrying the weight of expected failure.

The old fella told me, “Everyone now and then we hit a bad shot, everyone does it.”

And he is absolutely right.

What matters is how you bounce back and perform after a mistake.

This is where you have to once again focus on the breath and releasing all the tension built up inside of you.

I can’t think of the amount of times where I have been tense in different situations which has led to me completely fluff the action.

I would try to think of the best possible scenario, but these visions were eventually clouded out by the worst case scenarios that I used to feed constantly.

I changed by focusing on the way I spoke (about myself), controlling my breath and acting instead of waiting for permission.

Within a few weeks, I was able to completely alter my thoughts and what I wanted by believing whole-heartedly in the outcome and by adding evidence every week through consistent actions.

A year ago I would never have thought that I would have been a writer, producer and creator all moulded into one.

Finally, I stopped waiting and I decided to act before motivation kicked in and whilst the tension was still looming.

I didn’t think that I would publish my own articles, I didn’t believe in bringing my thoughts to life in the form of writing.

I would always second guess publishing my posts.

Every time that I decided to act before I felt ready, was another blow was dealt to my old identity.

I starved my old identity my new one could take its place.

People want shortcuts without putting in any effort.

I know this because I wanted easy ways to avoid my struggles, I wanted to utilise shortcuts so I could bypass the years of building, learning, failing and succeeding.

The truth is there is no shortcut.

You have to give your new identity a reason to exist.

And this is what my breath taught me.

Your breath is powerful because it gives you control over how you respond to the pressure.

Don’t be afraid of the pressure.

Don’t shy away from difficulty.

Stop waiting for the perfect moment.

Use the pressure as a tool.

Take the breath.

Exhale.

Let go.

Now perform.

If you’re sick & tired of being the skinny kid,

Then this is where that story ends,

And where your new identity begins.

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