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When we are stressed, we breathe
faster, adrenaline is high, and our attention is acute and
responding to a lot of thoughts at once - in effect, we are like
a monkey that is jumping around, constantly calculating and
watching for something that might eat us.
Humorously, you can
say to yourself "Monkey, be still!" Just getting a smile
from it sometimes can work. But, you can bring focus and
calm your monkey by simply finding a quiet place to sit...and
breath.
When your breathing
is slowed, adrenaline levels drop, and your body and mind relax.
In essence, you have determined that the tiger is gone and the
monkey can safely sit and rest or play. Ironically, it
really is as simple as breathing and we all know how to do
it...so we all know how to focus and relax. The key is to
take control of your stressful times! Train yourself
to mentally say, "BREATHE".
Workday stress?
Family pressures? Stuck in Austin traffic? Here are
some simple breathing exercises to calm you down... you can do
them sitting or lying down.
1) Inhale a
big deep breath. Let it fill your lungs to capacity and
feel it all the way into your abdomen. Now, exhale and
just let it go. You can even mentally picture your
initial breathe as whatever is stressing you, gathering it all
together during the inhale and letting it all go during
the exhale. Repeat.
2) Inhale
again. Again, let it fill you with good energy and oxygen
and get it into all the places that are stagnant and causing you
to feel badly. This time, just let it all go with a verbal
sigh. Aaaaahhhh.... Repeat.
Note: When inhaling, relax your shoulders...you don't need
to breath into them! Let the breath fill downward.
3) As you
breathe, mentally focus on your breath. More importantly,
feel your breath. You are giving your body
oxygen, fresh energy, clean energy...and letting go carbon
dioxide and negativity.
4) Now we'll
start to guide and train the breath. Inhale. Hold
it. Count to 2. Exhale. Before you inhale, again count to two.
Now inhale over a count of two. Hold it and count to 2.
Exhale over a count of two. Hold it and count to two.
Now let your breath return to 'normal'.
This exercise is called Box Breathing - the idea is to let your
inhales and exhales and the resting periods in between to be all
equal lengths.
While your mind is
focused on counting and breathing, it's hard for it to also be
thinking of other things. If it can't do that, you'll find
yourself more relaxed. On a deeper level, did your mind
being calmer change the situations that were stressing
you? No, but your response to them changed because you
made a choice not to react to them in the same way.
Practice your
breathing regularly. It is training, and it becomes easier
the more you do it. After a while, you can more easily
reach your "resting place" when you feel stressed. Good
Monkey!
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