Good afternoon! I hope you are well and hanging in there to the end of term (if it hasn’t already ended like it has for us.) On the blog, I have published my monthly review for November. Each month I have been doing a daily experiment to help me work towards my goal and in November my experiment was to practice a breathing exercise every day for at least 5 minutes. I was super consistent with this and managed to do it every day and I did notice a considerable difference in my mood and my patience levels.
My goal this year has been to embrace life with curiosity and experimentation to gain greater connection and this monthly experiment was perfect in helping me work towards achieving my goal. Spending time focusing on breathing and practicing breathing techniques allowed me to manage my stress and to help me feel more relaxed. When I am feeling this way, I have increased patience and that is so much better for creating greater connections with those around me – especially the kids!
We can take breathing for granted – we do it without thinking. But how we breathe can have a huge impact on our health and well being.
When a person is under stress, their breathing pattern changes. Typically, an anxious person takes small, shallow breaths, using their shoulders rather than their diaphragm to move air in and out of their lungs. This style of breathing disrupts the balance of gases in the body.
When a person is relaxed, they breathe through their nose in a slow, even and gentle way. Deliberately copying a relaxed breathing pattern seems to calm the nervous system that controls the body’s involuntary functions.
As we are in the midst of the festive/end of school year season you may be feeling more moments of stress and anxiety than usual. I highly recommend doing some breathing exercises to help keep the stress levels down and allow you to enjoy this time. It doesn’t have to take long, below I have listed some guided breathing exercises that I found helpful and the main one I used (the first one listed) was only five minutes so you have time to do it 😊! If you would like to read the review of my other habits for November you can do so here.
Have a great weekend.
Nic