Review how you're feeling at this moment - are your muscles tense? Are you feeling stressed? Is feeling tense and stressed the norm for you? Would you like to feel more relaxed? One of the best - and easiest - stress reduction techniques is to use your breath to generate feelings of calm and relaxation.
A greater sense of relaxation is only a breath away.
Working with the breath is an ancient and very accessible stress management and self-care technique.
Taking a cleansing breath lowers blood pressure and pulse and respiration rates.
As your heart rate slows, your mind becomes more relaxed.
Additionally, deep breathing helps promote the release of serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter, into the bloodstream.
Many benefits for something that takes hardly a minute! To get the most of these benefits, diaphragmatic or belly breathing is key.
To identify whether you are breathing high up in your chest or in your belly, place one hand on your chest and another hand on your stomach.
As you breathe normally, notice which palm is moving.
If you notice movement in both hands or more movement in the hand on your chest, you need to move your breath lower.
To breathe more from your abdomen, inhale a deep breath.
Then, imagine that you have a balloon in your stomach and as you exhale, force all the air out of that balloon.
Alternately, you could imagine that you are using one breath to slowly blow on some food to cool it off.
In both cases, once you exhale every bit of air you have in that breath, your next breath will automatically be a diaphragmatic breath.
Do a few of these deep breaths.
See if you can establish a pace that is deep, relaxed, and satisfying.
If you begin to feel light-headed, slow down your breathing or take a little break.
Establish a practice of incorporating diaphragmatic breathing into your day.
As soon as you wake up, take a few diaphragmatic breaths to stimulate optimal conditions for your body.
Notice quiet times during your daily routine, such as while you are waiting at a red light, holding on a call, or during TV commercials, to take a few deep, cleansing breaths.
The next time you notice you're feeling stressed, remember to use a few diaphragmatic breaths to change your body chemistry and invite feelings of calm and relaxation.
Diaphragmatic breathing - use this simple technique to be a friend yourself and quickly reduce your tension and stress!