A deep breath in and a deep breath out is sometimes all that it takes to calm the body and relax the mind.
STOP for just a moment.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and now slowly release the breath out through the mouth.
Can you feel a difference?
Shallow breathing can result in anxiety, fatigue, sleep disruptions and other physical and emotional disturbances. The power of the breath is an extremely powerful and effective tool to help relieve stress.
The fight or flight response is a wonderful and effective tool when we are in immediate danger eg. being chased by an animal or we need to run away from a madman.
However, in our day-to-day lives; when we listen to horrific world news, receive a phone call from an angry client or have a never ending to-do list; the automatic fight or flight trigger in our body remains activated through perceived danger.
The fight or flight response increases the heart rate, the breath becomes more shallow and stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) increase.
One of the easiest and most effective methods to bring our bodies out of fight or flight (sympathetic) and into the rest and digest (parasympathetic) is yes… you guessed it…
THE BREATH!
Next time you feel stress in your body – pay attention to your breath.
Deep breathing decreases the stress hormones, lowers the heart rate and moves us into a state of deeper relaxation by signaling to your body that it is safe.
Once we are relaxed the body is able to function much more efficiently and stress levels reduce significantly.
We can problem solve more efficiently, build stronger relationships with people around us, digest our food, learn new things and build new neural pathways, have deeper sleep and be more creative and significantly decrease the chance of burnout.
By making breathing techniques part of your daily routine, it can have profound benefits on the body and mind.
Research shows people feel happier, and more clear headed when they are breathing deeply. There are different breathing techniques to bring about relaxation. In essence, the general aim is to shift from upper chest breathing to abdominal breathing.
There are many ways to breathe deeply, here are 3 simple breathing techniques:
Alternate Nostril Breathing:
This is the perfect elixir for calming you if you feel anxious and bringing more energy if you feel lack-lustre. If you’re feeling stressed, or anxious, if you re about to go into a meeting or presentation and want to feel calmer this breath will help to centre you.
Click on this link for a short video
Alternate Nostril Breathing:
This is the perfect elixir for calming you if you feel anxious and bringing more energy if you feel lack-lustre. If you’re feeling stressed, or anxious, if you re about to go into a meeting or presentation and want to feel calmer this breath will help to centre you.
Click on this link for a short video
Belly Breathing:
Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit or lie down and try to practice this exercise 1 -4 times per day.
- Place one hand on the middle of your upper chest and the other hand on your abdomen just below the ribcage.
- To inhale, slowly breathe in through the nose, drawing the breath down toward the belly. Fell the stomach push upward against the hand, while the chest remains still.
- To exhale, lightly tighten the abdominal muscles and feel the stomach move toward the spine as you brethe out through pursed lips.
- Try to keep the chest still.
- Breath in for 4 and out for 6
Try breathing in for four counts, then out for six. This is so simple, just make the exhale longer than the inhale. The counts can be any length that suit you best.
Click here to watch the video for this simple technique
Many breathing exercises take only a few minutes. You can even start with one minute per day. When you have more time, you can do them for 10 minutes or more to get even greater benefits.
Take the time each day to give it a try and see if you can notice the difference.
