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Clenched jaw, shortness of breath, shoulders up by the ears and thoughts rapidly swirling in the mind. The feeling of a million butterflies plummeting to the bottom of your stomach.
Have you ever had this happen to you? Fight, flight or freeze– when your sympathetic nervous system turns on and the world narrows.
I always forget, even though I teach this ‘stuff’ to take a deep breath before the spiral comes on. What if we paused before we reacted to create a response rather than a reaction?
One very deep belly breath can help us feel better. Here are 3 simple steps to practice diaphragmatic breathing.
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Draw a big breath in through the nose (if you aren’t stuffy)
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Fill up the lungs to the maximum capacity
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Exhale all the air out completely before taking in another deep breath
Bringing one hand to your heart and one hand to the belly can help soothe the nervous system and encourage a breath that goes into the diaphragm or belly area.
Here’s a 1.5 minute video if you are interested in learning more
Image by Pascal Wiemers from Pixabay
