How Is Your Breathing?
Ok, time to get honest here!
Until you read the title of this newsletter, were you even thinking about your breathing? Maybe just a little or not at all?
It’s okay if you haven’t been thinking about it. That’s the nice thing about the autonomic nervous system…it just does stuff that keeps you alive without you having to think about it. Like breathing, heart pumping, blood flowing, etc. Those things just happen whether you think about them or not.
So now that I have your attention, take a moment and see how you are breathing. Really pay attention. Is your breathing fast and shallow? Is only your chest rising and falling? Or is your diaphragm also expanding when you are breathing deep and slow?
I am really good about taking deep, slow breathes, especially when I may be feeling stressed and it has helped me tremendously. So, I hadn’t thought much about my breathing.
However, back in August, I had surgery on my sinuses and all of a sudden, I couldn’t take those deep, slow breathes that I am so accustomed to. I noticed that because I couldn’t breathe deeply I didn’t have nearly as much energy as I typically do and I was much more tired at the end of the day.
Thus, the inspiration for this newsletter!
What if there were simple, easy ways for you to have more energy in your life that didn’t require money or a lot of time? There are…just by being aware of how you are breathing.
I have posted on my website blog a series of 4 breathing exercises that you can access here. All of them are easy to do and really take no time at all to do. It is just a matter of you taking the time to do them.
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU: Set aside some time every day to practice some breathing techniques and see how different you feel throughout the day when you make a conscious effort to slow down your breathing. How is your stress level after doing some slow breathing? If need be, write it down on a piece of paper so that you can track your stress levels day to day.
Turns out breathing ISN’T overrated. (My friends and I have this running joke about when we are feeling stressed we tell each other to “just breathe”, which is then followed up with the comment of “breathing is overrated”).