Because breathing comes naturally to us, we often minimize its importance as a tool for helping us calm feelings of anxiety, frustration, or anger. However, especially now, relaxed breathing is an effective way to help us stay in or return to a place where we feel centered and calm.
Under ordinary circumstances, we solve problems taking into account logical considerations and feelings. During these times, there is smooth communication between our frontal cortex and our amygdala, the logical and feeling centers of our brain, respectively. When we encounter life and death situations, however, this intercommunication between thoughts and feelings shuts down as our “Fight-Flight-Freeze” response kicks in. When confronted by a people-eating tiger, for example, we don’t have time to ponder the pros and cons of fighting versus fleeing versus freezing; we just need to take the immediate action that provides the greatest chance of our survival in a situation where survival is no sure thing. We take these actions “almost without thinking;” and indeed, these actions are more instinctual than cognitive. During these events, our bodies receive a huge dose of adrenalin, our heart rate increases, and our breathing quickens, all in the service of an immediate, powerful response. This whole-body call to action is great in an emergency, but it’s not a very healthy way to live over prolonged periods of time. Unfortunately, however, many of us have become habituated to responding to some problems and crises as a life-and-death emergencies that require responding “almost without thinking” when more thoughtful, planned responses are what we need. Think about what happens to your breath when you are scared or angry. When I’m scared I tend to take in a quick breath and then hold it. When I’m angry, my breathing also becomes irregular. If I’m paying attention, I would also notice that my heart rate has increased and I’ve gotten a little shot of adrenalin. Whether engendered by anxiety, frustration, or anger, in any of these cases, my best first response is to stop and focus on my breathing. As a starting point, I like to take three, slow, deep breaths in and out. In and out. In and out. This regulates both my breathing and my heart rate, helps me return to the present moment, and gets me back into thinking mode where I can access both thoughts and feelings to find the best solution to whatever problem I am facing. To be sure, what our country and world is facing with COVID-19 has life-and-death implications. But for this “Fight-Flight-Freeze” response, government officials, doctors, and scientists have advised us as to what we can do to best protect and care for ourselves, our loved ones, and our fellow humans. What remains is for us is to do our best to manage day to day under the provisions of “Safer at Home.” It’s no secret that our current situation is especially stressful and anxiety-producing, and that the learning curve that is accompanying our “new normal” can leave us frustrated and angry. While relaxed breathing is part of my everyday practice, it has become especially important for me to remember to incorporate relaxed breathing throughout my day. (And if you’re like me, the more stress we are facing, the easier it is to forget to practice self-care, or to dismiss it altogether as “too time-consuming” given “everything else” we’ve got going on!) The truth is that it is even more important to practice self-care during times of high stress. To that end, I invite you to give yourself permission to “Take 10” (10 minutes for yourself… 10 deep breaths… however you’d like to define it!) several times throughout the day. More than ever we are living in times where we just can’t forget to breathe! Submitted by Ann Taylor, Ed.D. 3rd-5th School Counselor, Bailey Station Elementary Comments are closed.
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May 2020
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