Breathing
Ok, so we’re all breathing, all the time. What’s the big deal? Well, there’s a difference between breathing as a background activity to stay alive - which we all do - and using your breath to get calm, manage your nerves, find your center, come back to the task at hand, refocus and re-engage under pressure, or reconnect with what’s truly important in a given moment.
The difference is in your ATTENTION.
The great thing about breathing intentionally is that it is the simplest and possibly the most powerful in-the-moment mindfulness tool for people in performance or pressure situations (it also works any other time too). When you’re starting out, it’s helpful to find a place to sit comfortably with your feet flat on the ground and your eyes closed. This place can be a chair, the floor, a patch of grass, a tree stump…you get the idea.
There are literally dozens (hundreds?) of intentional breathing exercises, and people out there that seem to know them all. However, you don’t have to be a spiritual master to know how to breathe. It’s really simple:
1. Find your comfortable spot, put your feet on the ground or floor, close your eyes, and start breathing in through your nose, out through your nose or mouth.
2. Make sure your breath is reaching your belly! You can cue this by placing a hand gently on your lower abdomen. Most of us are chest breathers, and this actually adds tension to our shoulders and neck. If the hand on the belly doesn’t work, fold forward so that your stomach is resting on your thighs, and try to press your belly into your legs.
3. Now, begin to count at a nice, measured pace as you breathe. Since you’re trying to calm yourself, your exhale count should be longer than your inhale count (on the same pace). This mimics the pattern you breathe in when you’re sleeping, and tricks your nervous system into winding down. For example, you could inhale on a 4-count and exhale on a 6-count. When you’re over-hyped, this method and its effect on your nervous system can bring you back down to a place where you can make rational choices in your quest for performance; it can also help you cope with a stressful situation.
4. Continue until you feel calm and centered, then go about your day! Eventually, with practice, you’ll be able to bring yourself right back to center with just a breath or two, and your performance - and maybe your daily life - will improve.