Breathe!

Okay, just checking in to see if you are doing your deep breathing, everyone! It is especially important to breathe deeply, especially when you are feeling that rising anxiety or panic. Why breathe deeply? Basically, getting oxygen to your brain is an anti-stressor. For example, do you notice that when you are stressed you tend to sigh more? Do you notice other people sighing when they are under pressure or stress too? That's the body's natural way of getting you to breathe deeply. You might even notice that sometimes when you're nervous you yawn more. Again, your body wants you to breathe deeply. So, just do it. Try to take a few minutes every day when you breathe no more than six breaths per minute. You'll find that if you time that out, it's really just a matter of breathing slow, deep breaths. I'm still working on making this a daily habit. I find it hard to remember.....until I really NEED to do it! But it's better to make a habit of it as part of maintenance. :-)