[Original post can be found on Medium]
Lives can get overwhelming easily these days. One minute you’re enjoying a cup of coffee in peace, another minute you have someone dropping a pile of work on you, your phone ringing non-stop, or you find yourself trying to juggle ten jobs at once, because (of course!) they all require your immediate attention.
But do you know what you could do to help yourself in situations like these? Pause. Find yourself a quiet place for a few minutes, breathe and focus. Next thing you know your mind starts to clear up and you slowly get back the sense of control.
One simple habit that helped me tremendously over the years is breathing techniques. There are a few you can try and see what works best for you but a simple habit to stop and focus on your breathing can have a major impact.
I personally use breathing techniques not only when I get overwhelmed but also a few times a day to make sure my stress levels stay on a lower side. It can be really difficult to remember at first so you may want to get yourself a reminder. Same way your smart watch tells you to get up and move, you can use it to breathe as well. What do you do when you get a reminder? You take a couple of deep breaths and just focus on your breathing. Try and slow it down a bit.
6–2–6–2
I love a 6–2–6–2 technique. Breathe through your nose. Count to 6 while breathing in (fast simple count, no Mississippi or anything), hold your breath for 2, then breath out counting to 6 and hold your breath for 2 again.
This allows you to focus, relax and let parasympathetic system to take over the sympathetic one.
Here’s more on why breathing exercises and taking care of our mental health is important:
4–7–8
Another popular technique is 4–7–8. I find it a bit more challenging, but you should definitely try different exercises until you find your favourite. For this one, you breathe in while counting to 4, then hold your breath until you count to 7 and then exhale while counting to 8.
When and where?
You can do breathing exercises at work, when sitting in traffic, at home, walking, anywhere really. A simple step to take back control of your life. Soon enough, you will get into the habit of catching your breath and you will not need reminders anymore.
Just last month I found myself in a dentist chair. I told my dentist right away that I am really nervous, and she tried to calm me down, but what really helped me was my breathing techniques. In the end, my dentist said, “If I did not know how nervous you were, I would not have believed it. You were so calm in that chair!”
I really wasn’t, but breathing exercises helped me calm down a little bit and survive the almost 2 hours of drilling and poking.
Have you tried breathing exercises? Do you have a habit on using them or is it one of those things you know but forget about? Let me know in the comments!