I want to talk to you about breathing, it’s a very simple thing – we all do it, it’s automatic, it’s part of the autonomic nervous system, where we just breathe without concentrating on it. It’s just a natural reaction to staying alive.
I want to talk about very conscious types of breathing.
Something that’s been really helpful for me, which I combine with my 10 minutes of meditation each day, is breathing. I just breathe in very deeply for five or six seconds. I hold that breath for a second or two, and then exhale for seven or eight seconds.
The exhalation is always a little bit longer than the inhalation. It’s very helpful for changing my physiology, for getting me from sympathetic to parasympathetic dominance, feeling more relaxed, feeling more composed, getting lots of fresh oxygenated blood into every aspect of the brain and the body.
There’s a particular technique I want to recommend to you, and it’s super simple – it’s called box breathing.
Imagine a square box, you breathe in for four seconds,
hold the breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold the exhalation
for four seconds, and repeat. Simple.
You can do it sitting on a train. You can do it when you’re walking. You can do
it in a meeting. You can do it anywhere – that is the beauty of breathing, but
also the box breathing technique.
If you found that interesting, check out my podcast with Richie Bostock – The Breathing Guy. He specialises in helping people to breathe more easily, to control their nervous system, control anxiety, and manage stress.
Why The Answer To Managing Stress Might Be Under Your Nose with Richie Bostock
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Leanne Spencer is an entrepreneur, coach, TEDx Speaker, author of Remove the Guesswork, and founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. Bodyshot is a health and fitness consultancy that helps busy professionals get more energy by removing the guesswork around their health, fitness and nutrition. Visit www.bodyshotperformance.com or email info@bodyshotperformance.com to register your interest in our services and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
