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Relieve Stress Through Breath
There are times throughout your day when you may feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to get done. Tension and pain begin to build up in your neck and spread to your shoulders, calling out that you are not effectively dealing with stress. The more you try to ignore your body's voice, the more it will get back at you through muscle tautness, deep-tissue soreness, upset stomach, ulcers, tension headaches, and any of a long assortment of ailments modern medicine has linked with what we know as stress.
The majority of time you probably don't even notice the escalating tension
in your body while it is still preventable because you are not taking
the time to be mindful of your body's stress signals. Along with that
stiff neck and shoulders, your breathing is probably shallow, which compounds
the problem. Most people tend to breathe out of their upper chest instead
of from their solar plexus. The tension that spills from constricting
breathing in your air passages will result in a feeling of heaviness,
stiffness, and a sensation of being stifled.
Whereas the accumulation of daily stressors adds to our tendency to take
shallow breaths, there is little doubt that our shallow breathing contributes
significantly to the sensation of being "stressed out". It's
a vicious circle that can lead to a severely impaired immune system function.
The negative endorphins that are released when we tense up are part of
a primitive characteristic of human evolution-the fight-or-flight response.
Our bodies were never meant to produce these hormones for prolonged periods
of time-they were intended to aid in generating short-lived bursts of
adrenaline required for the occasional physical confrontations where our
ancestors defended their survival. What the 20th century has produced,
however, is a prolonged stimulation of these endorphins that is triggered
by stressful situations that go unresolved, and which cause the body to
be kept in a constant activation mode. This accelerated wear-and-tear
of our biological makeup induces fatigue and tissue damage, and leads
to a compromised ability of the body to self-repair or defend itself against
infectious diseases.
Few of us realize the extent to which our breathing is connected to the proper functioning of our bodies. If your oxygen was suddenly cut off you would be unable to survive for long. In fact, brain damage begins to occur after about four minutes of being without air. Oxygenation rests at the top of all your basic physiological needs for survival. Premature babies are only considered to enter a stage of viability after the period when their lungs have been fully formed. Yet as a society we have been programmed over time, through situational cues and a haste-oriented, fast-breathing external environment, to breathe poorly. We tend to take quick, short breaths instead of deeper, slower breaths. Our chest cavities get constricted and our hearts pump blood faster, giving us all the symptoms we associate with the physical state of being that we call "stress".
There are a couple of reasons that account for why we breathe this way. Our oxygen self-deprivation is partly due to the fact that we live in such a fast-paced age that we are constantly speaking quickly to get out what we have to say, leaving little room for deep breathing. Secondly, when we are rushing around and becoming stressed out because we just cannot seem to accomplish everything all at once, we are not mindful of our patterns of respiration. Sometimes all it takes to ward off an oncoming headache is to just slow down your breathing so as to give your brain more oxygen and ease the circulation of your blood flow. Headaches are yet another way that your brain is screaming at you to slow down and give it the nutrient it needs most to survive- sufficient air.
Solution
A couple of years ago, during one of my certification training programs, the facilitator kept on repeating "Breathing is good." We found that by the end of a week's worth of training, those simple words had become an anchor that reminded us to breathe deeply whenever we felt tense. Make a poster with these powerful words-Breathing is Good -and post it in a place where you will see it throughout your day!
The way you breathe can affect the degree of anxiety you will undergo during an already-stressful period. Like a car's engine, the exhaust in your system can build up to extremely unhealthy proportions and spill over into many types of illnesses. The good news is, the magnitude and extent of your stress-related physical strain can be easily controlled through simple-to-learn breathing exercises that you can perform anytime. Start by paying attention to your body. Whenever you begin to feel anxious, stressed out, or experience physical tension, take a five minute "breath break."
You'll get a deeper, better quality of breath by first filling your lower abdomen with air, then inhaling higher into your chest for a count of 4. Hold the breath in for a count of 7 and slowly exhale for a count of 8. Feel your body filling up with air, and exhale audibly, visualizing all your stress being pushed out of your lungs at the end of each deep breath. Repeat this process until you feel yourself become grounded.
Deep breathing is the fastest method of on-the-spot stress management, and it's perfect for times when you're on the go and do not have access to a quiet place where you can re-group. You can relax your breathing and lessen your stress this way even when you're in a traffic jam, when you're in an anxious at the office, or when you feel there are just too many demands coming at you from all directions. Remember, it's never too late to quit the bad habit of shallow breathing, and your body will thank you for it immediately. Deep breathing and meditation are key components of our Stress Management Seminar.