Breath is essential to our existence. When you stop to think about it, we can go days without food or water but just try to go more than a few minutes without breathing! 

On a daily basis, how often do you actually pay attention to your breath? The answer for most of us is, not very often. This is unfortunate considering, when you can control your breathing, you can tap directly into your nervous system to manage your stress. 

Just through the simple act of controlling your inhale and exhale you can bring your body into a state of calm and balance your nervous system. Want to give it a try?

Sit down, close your eyes, and think of something that made you angry, frustrated, or anything that made you feel stressed out. Keep paying attention, you will probably notice that your chest or stomach start to constrict, your breath gets short and shallow, and your heart rate speeds up. 

Keep that same thought in your mind but now inhale through your nose to a count of 4 and exhale through your nose to a count of 4. Keep breathing that way for a minute or so. You don’t need your breaths to be long, just make them really precise. 

After a minute of breathing like that, keep sitting with your eyes closed and notice how your mind and body feel.

What did you notice? Hopefully, you noticed that the constriction loosened its grip, your breath was smooth and steady, your heart rate slowed down, and a sense of calm washed over your whole body. 

When we stop and breath consciously and regulate our nervous system, we are creating resilience in ourselves. Being resilient helps us bounce back from day to day challenges that we face including, illness, fatigue, mental and emotional stress, and trauma. 

The best part of managing stress with breathing is that you don’t need anything to do it. You can practice this anytime, anywhere. It’s simple, easy, and free!

Breathing is like any other practice, though, you have to do it to experience the benefits. Don’t you think you could find 2 minutes a day to help you manage stress? I know you can! 

Give this simple breathing practice a try for a week and then let me know how it’s working for you.