One Breath at a time.
Why some people are always calm and in the zone, while others get easily psyched up, overwhelmed and require a whole weekend to recover from a small negative comment? Our ability to cope with and think clearly when stressed is strongly linked with the way we breathe.
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For most people their ability to breathe is taken for granted, and rightly so as our breath follows us throughout life. When you stop breathing you will no longer have to worry about meetings, to do lists or anything really. At the same time:
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Breath training can help you improve the way you breathe when you are not conscious of it but also learn how to control your Nervous System when you feel stressed. Each of these goals require different types of exercises.
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The way you breathe depends on both your body’s biomechanics & biochemistry. A thorough breathing assessment will involve the assessment of both, but while that would be too complex to complete on your own, you can start with measuring your ability to breathe well when you are relaxed.
Scoring below 20 sec in this test is an indication of dysfunctional breathing. Prior to confirming that other tests might be needed.
In your effort to manage stress there are a series of lifestyle and nutritional habits you can adopt. Nothing will result in quicker results though than the following 3:
• Breathe Effortlessly when they are not conscious of their breath
• Calm their Nervous System down when agitated
• Apply lifestyle habits that will improve their breathing capacity.
| 3 Top Tips for Breathing for Stress | |
|---|---|
| Breathing Check-In | |
| Calm Your Nervous System Through Your Breath | |
| No. 1 Lifestyle Factor for Breathing |
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Which breathing exercises would suit you best (as mentioned above) depends on your respiratory capacity.
For most people the following 2 exercises can be a great starting point:
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Extra caution needs to be taken by those with the following conditions: Cancer, Neurological conditions, Cardiovascular Disease & Blood sugar regulation issues. ALL of these groups should refrain from hypoxic and hypocapnic breathing exercises, while the last 2 should avoid exercises that increase adrenaline. If in doubt just avoid the exercise all together. Te exercises mentioned above are safe.
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