Often when folks come into see me for counseling I notice tense shoulders and shallow breathing. Shallow breathing can increase feelings of stress, tension, and anxiety. Taking the time to examine your breathing can dramatically help you learn to deal with stress and tension.
To test your breathing do this simple check:
1. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen (just below your rib cage).
2. Take a deep breath in.
3. Notice - is your your chest mostly moving, or is your abdomen mostly moving?
If your chest is moving a lot you are breathing shallowly. Instead, take a deep breath and move only your abdomen without moving your chest. It might feel awkward at first if you are used to shallow breathing, but trust that you are getting more oxygen this way.
When you notice yourself feeling stressed
*take a minute and focus on your breathing.
*Make sure you are breathing from your abdomen,
*breathe in slowly through your nose while counting to five (in your mind), and
*breathe out through your mouth while counting to five.
This is superfast, easy, and a great stress management tool!
2 comments:
This is probably the easiest and one of the most effective stress reducers there is - deep breathing. I learned it through martial art meditation (same as any mind/body meditation).
great ideas. thank you.
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