Currently we are living in a time of complete unrest. All over the globe there is that air of uncertainty that plagues us all and with this comes anxiety, fear and stress.
We all want to move past this and get life back to normal, so the stress of uncertainty can be released.
But how do we do this?
The simplest way is to breathe…yes that’s right. Breathing your way through the stress and the uncertainty is one of the most effective ways of dealing with this time. Now you are probably thinking – but we breathe all the time, what has changed?
Your regular breathing pattern is a way of life, but this can be compromised during times of stress. When you are anxious or stressed, your breathing pattern starts to speed up. Your heart rate increases and your body temperature increases too. Therefore, this is not helping release the stress and the anxiety, but is instead helping to increase it.
But mindful breathing techniques, which are different to our regular breathing patterns do the opposite. When practicing a more mindful breathing pattern, you are in control of your emotions, you are in control of your breathing patterns. Your breathing can calm the panic thoughts down and lower the cortisol hormone in the body, which causes stress and therefore, will decrease the impact that stress and anxiety has on the body. This is powerful stuff!
So how do you implement more mindful breathing?
The first place to begin is as follows:
- Take a slow deep breath in through the nose and hold it for 4 counts
- Followed by a slow exhale out through the mouth for a count of 4.
- Repeat 4 times over
At first this will prove to be difficult, but what makes it so powerful is whilst you are practising this breathing pattern, your mind becomes focused on the breath as you will be counting whilst breathing. This is a great distracting method for the brain and therefore, reduces the focus on the situation that is causing the anxiety and stress and instead is focusing on connecting the mind and body in unity to clear the mind and the emotions.
This exercise alone is very powerful.
You can continue this exercise a little longer past 4 breaths, if you choose. The more you do so, the stronger your lungs will be in the process, as you are training your breath to breathe in for longer and breathe out for longer, something we don’t do in regular breathing.
As you slow down your breathing, your thoughts also slow down in unison, making it easier for you to take the time to gain the clarity you need to tap into that peace of mind and focus on solutions to situations than the problems itself.
With the current world situation, solutions may seem out of your hands and that lack of control is what sends you into that downward spiral, but know that your solution for yourself is to find the calmness and the things that keep you going personally through it all. Your solution is finding even those small things to take action on and smile about, not to battle with the big things that are out of your hands, but to make each day in your life count and get the best out of each day even in these uncertain times.
Simply using the above technique of breathwork, enables you to gain that headspace to let go of the tension you feel in your body and tap into that space of calm, freedom and clarity.
It gives you back your power with each breath you take.
How blessed you really are to have this powerful tool, within you whenever you need it…truly blessed.