Jani Martinius

Breathing to Save the Day!

Breathing will save my day, really?

That seems too simple. Right? Sometimes the simplest things make a giant difference!

Have you ever noticed how many deep breaths you really take in a day? I invite you to start paying attention, without judgment. Just to notice.

A deep breath is where the air goes all the way into your belly. Feel free to place your hands on your belly and chest and breathe. Which hand moves?

Shallow breaths usually only go as far as the chest.

Deep breaths go all the way into the belly.

Most people take very few deep breaths in a day, which means your body constantly lives in “fight or flight mode” and doesn’t get a chance to relax and calm down.

This may sound familiar: You are stressed. A project is late, something else came up at work. The kids are late for school. Everyone is talking all at once. They need you, they need you now. You are overwhelmed. Shallow breaths. You need to make decisions. Like, yesterday…

And then: ________________ (Fill in the blank with your coping mechanism. Anger, yelling, shutting down, leaving, going into overdrive, people pleasing… etc.)

Sometimes a few deep breaths can change everything. They calm your body and mind and set you up to live and act from a place of calm and peace.

Box breathing is a breathing technique to encourage long and slow, deep breaths. It goes like this:

Everything is on a four second count. Breathe in for four, hold your breath for four, breathe out for four seconds, then hold our breath for four. And then again. Do this as many times as you need. 3-5 times daily.

Shall we try? Remember, count to 4.

Breathe in

Hold your breath

Breathe out

Hold your breath

Keep going as long as you need!

Close your eyes if that feels good and you can put your hand on your stomach to feel your breaths going in and out. Sometimes having that tactile sensation of your hand on your belly can help calm you down further.

So how did that feel?

Now that you have put your body in a place of calm and peace, what's the best way for you to move forward today?