HOW TO BREATHE TO RELAX.

Have you ever noticed what happens to your breath when you encounter stressful or anxious situations? Managing stress, or our reactions to events, conversations, emails, etc… can be a huge step towards taking better care of ourselves, our mind and body.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

Charles R. Swindoll

We all encounter situations that can increase our stress levels but focusing on the power of the breath can be a huge way to harness your inner calm and reduce anxieties or stress. In Yoga and in particular Forest yoga, we are taught a more conscious connection with our breath. Conscious control of breath allows us to shift our nervous system state on demand and downshift when we are high strung or up level when we feel dull or apathetic. Conscious connection to breath also allows us to develop more of an ability to receive and react to stimuli coming from within.

Brenee Brown in Rising strong talks about “The four part breathing”– it is used by athletes, performers, doctors, and even navy seals, to quickly enter a calm, focused state of mind and body; especially when they are in an intense situation where they need to be fully present and directly connected to their best self.

How to do a Calming Breath: (your eyes can be open or closed – whatever is more comfortable for you)

1. Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs. Count to four.

2. Hold your breath in for four.

3. Exhale slowly through pursed lips, while you relax the muscles in your face, jaw, shoulders, and stomach for a count of four.

4. Hold your empty breath for a count of four.

5. Repeat.

The great thing about this is you can do this anywhere, anytime. Lying down or sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet on the floor. The pace doesn't matter; it should just be something that feels good to you. Try and make the exhale smooth and have almost all of the air leave your body. Do it with the counting as long as you need to get the pace down before going to the next step. If you are feeling particularly anxious, holding in your breath after you exhale can be soothing.

Breathing can be a huge positive steps towards self-love and self-care. It’s not about meditation. It is sitting with our feelings and managing them. We can learn to heal through breathing.

If you are interested in learning more about breathing to heal, check out this Tedx talk by Max Strom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lb5L-VEm34

Are you thriving or surviving? Why we should aim to have more control over our lives.

“Have the self-respect & confidence to live life on your own terms”

Benjamin P. Hardy

For a long time, I think was just surviving. Every day felt like a struggle to get from one thing to another, get up, get ready, get child ready, get dog walked, drop off child, get to work, get work done, collect child, get dinner ready, bedtime and crash. Get up and repeat. And repeat. Daily feelings of guilt for not doing enough or being enough, wanting to do more but not being able to push through the barriers, my own barriers.

What changed?

It was a culmination of events that led be to literally saying I can’t do this anymore. I have always been an impulsive cease the day person and I was quite far away from this - from who I am as a person. I was an anxious, stressed and really not the most pleasant to be around.

What has helped?

1.      Implementing boundaries.

Setting boundaries does not always come easily but they are crucial to our personal well-being. Knowing and clearly defining what your intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual boundaries are with strangers, work colleagues, friends, family, and intimate partners is key. Think about why they are important, your values and then communicate this, ground yourself and be assertive.

2.      De-cluttering ‘toxic’ factors.

Evidence suggests that decluttering physical space reduces stress, helps fight depression, makes it easier to focus, promotes healthier eating and improves air quality. It isn’t just physical space that sometimes need decluttered – we should create positive emotional spaces around us and sometimes this means letting go of friendships, partnerships, etc…that do not serve us anymore.

3.      Scheduling my time.

I love a good list but that was not supporting my well-being. I now schedule everything including my breaks. You can start by doing a time audit of what you spend your time doing every day – you might think you spend 30 minutes on emails every day but actually that is where most of your time goes. I now no longer look at emails before 11. Plan your day/ week ahead, include everything you need to do and focus on your 3 most important tasks every day. Spend 5 minutes at the end of your day planning your next day. Don’t multi-task and plan a buffer into your scheduling.