This can make you feel short of breath, which is a common symptom when you feel anxious or frustrated. Your breathing becomes shallow and rapid, and you primarily breathe from the chest and not the lower lungs. “When you experience stressful thoughts, your sympathetic nervous system triggers the body’s ancient fight-or-flight response, giving you a burst of energy to respond to the perceived danger. As Sheila Patel, Medical Director of The Chopra Center explains, This type of breathing (or non-breathing!) was further contributing to my anxiety, panic and stress level. I eventually learned that intense emotional and physical reactions to grief and trauma ( see D- Do Your Homework) were causing me to breathe from my chest in a rapid, shallow way. I felt suffocated, anxious, panicked and fearful. Excuse me, what happened here? Did he take all of the oxygen with him when he left? Did his own amazing lung capacity override any future capacity of my own? I just couldn’t get any air. So how very ironic then that when Brent died in 2012, I completely lost my OWN ability to breathe. Just as he played a variety of other unique woodwind instruments- the harmonica, Mexican pan flute, Irish tin whistle, Hawaiian nose flute, and Australian didgeridoo Needless to say, the college students kept a 10pm curfew from that day forward.Īnd Brent? He could play that bagpipe forever. Brent stopped playing, shook hands with the officer like he knew him (turns out he did), then started those pipes right back up again as the officer, still chuckling, got back into his squad car and drove away. I’m sure this was the most interesting situation he’d seen in awhile. When the cruiser rolled into the driveway, the police officer laughed and shook his head. BAGPIPES?! At 7:00am?! They called the Honolulu Police Department. The sleepy students stumbled out of their doorway in disbelief. He busted out his bagpipe for an early morning practice. So on final exam week, when all of the college students were studying late into the night, Brent decided to fight fire with fire. On numerous occasions, we had asked them to quiet down and be respectful- to no avail. Those of us who had full time day jobs were exhausted, irritated and angry. Multiple car engines woke us nightly at 2:00am, drunk people urinated in nearby plants, loud music blared into our homes day and night. Over the last few weeks, the students had disregarded everyone and everything on this quiet Hawaiian street. It was the six college students, who rented the third home, who were less than pleased. Bill and Vicky, the psychiatrist and social worker, smiled knowingly and calmly headed off to work. Danny, the motorcycle mechanic, waved and gave Brent a thumbs up. On purpose.Īs I stood there in the driveway, I saw heads peering out of the windows of three neighboring homes. He was busy trying to wake up the neighbors. He was busy moving his fingers up and down the chanter, giving melody and rhythm to the steady blaring sound. He was busy applying pressure to the bag underneath his arm, which produced a steady tone from all four drones. He was busy keeping a constant supply of air moving over all four reeds that stuck up on top of the bagpipe bag. Mouth was busy continually forcing air into the instrument by way of the blowpipe. What is he DOING?! He NEVER practices at home!! It’s too EARLY!! Is he NUTS?!īrent nodded when he saw me but just kept playing. Highland Bagpipe for all the island to hear. There was my husband, standing in the driveway in his shorts and flip flops, playing his Great I jumped out of bed, bolted down the stairs two at a time, and yanked the front door open. Yet another glorious day in paradise.īBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! I turned off the 7:00am alarm, rolled over in bed, wondered where my husband had gone, and thought about showering before work. In Manoa Valley, a tiny suburb tucked back in the lush tropical hills, the palm trees swayed gently in the breeze, the sweet scent of plumeria flowers wafted in through open windows, and doves cooed softly in the dawn mist. It was another beautiful morning on the island of Oahu. “Just breathing can be such a luxury sometimes.”
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