I got a panicked text from a dear friend this afternoon. She is a stressed out mom who works long hours and was feeling--in a nutshell--overwhelmed.
She asked for inspiration and words of wisdom.
My response to her (after I told her to immediately schedule a mani/pedi for her next day off) was simple: Breathe.
You are only as calm as your breath. There's nothing fancy about breathing to calm yourself down. Simply give yourself a 30 second time out, close your eyes, and deepen your breath.
Sometimes we need more than 30 seconds. Like a minute. I know, minutes are often hard to spare. But when we find ourselves especially tense, our breath is shallow, our shoulders come up near our ears, and everything in us locks up. I can't think of a more uncomfortable physical state.
Start with a cleansing breath. In through the nose, big sigh through the mouth. Then do another one. And another one still.
Relax your shoulders. Drop them down your back.
Now for the next (insert how much time you have here), follow this simple mantra.
"I breathe in _________. I breathe out _________."
Insert in the first blank what you need: peace. calm. love. patience. happiness. warmth. Fill yourself with it as you inhale.
Insert in the second blank what you need to get out: stress. fear. anxiety. darkness. panic. Let it go as you exhale.
Within one minute of breathing with intention, my mind instantly feels clearer, my heart rate has settled, and my blood pressure has lowered.
Your breath is the fastest vehicle to calming yourself down, to returning to a place of comfort.
Just. Breathe.
Like music? Check out these songs in regards to the breath.
- Keep Breathing, Ingrid Michaelson
- Breathe Me, Sia
- The Sea, Urban Nature
- Just Breathe, Pearl Jam
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