Breathing is important.
It allows your nervous system to work.
It helps engage emotion.
It helps you to be more creative.
But we don't give ourselves the chance to do it.
We go, and go, and go metaphorically holding our breath until we drop into burn out.
If you don't breathe in a scene, the scene dies. If you don't breathe in life, you physically die.
When you are preparing a scene you note your breathing marks on the script. This isn't just a time for you to physically take a breath, but is a time for you to take a momentary break and emotionally prepare for the idea that you are carrying through the scene.
As an actor, you need to know where your breath is and know how much air you need to get where you are going.
The same is in life
We need to take a breath, a break, so we can refill and prepare for the next thing. We need it physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Just as an actor marks their breathing on a script so to enter a scene prepared for what they are required to deliver; in everyday life we need to mark a breath in our calendars so we can recharge, prepare and put our best foot forward in the day to day.
Aside from luxury vacations the world doesn't encourage us to take a break. We all too often feel guilty for taking five minutes to read a magazine and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, never mind taking a whole day (or multiple days) to rest. There is no wonder that we don't breathe.
Breathing isn't bad. It's what we are made to do—work for six days and rest for one day (Exodus chapter 20, verse 8–10; Mark chapter 2, verse 27).
The law protects us from over-working to the point of burn out, with a mandatory four weeks annual leave and legalities around the amount of days we can work in a row.
When Jesus was on earth he modelled an example of taking a break.
Psychology and self-help books present taking a break as a good thing and a self-preserving practise that is good for us physically, mentally and emotionally.
If you are a weight lifter you know what taking a break is all about.
So, let's cut ourselves some slack, listen to our body and the rhythms of life and practise taking a breath before we collapse from running without breathing.
I know this applies to me.
'Rest and be thankful.'—William Wordsworth
Charlotte Goiris is an upcoming Aussie actress and model. She is passionate about social justice and story telling. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to receive regular updates @charlottegoiris
Charley Goiris' previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/charley-goiris.html