Just Breathe...

I want to share with you a bit about our breathe. Breathe gives us life. When we feel unsafe or threatened our breathing becomes shallow, rapid and usually through the mouth. If you think of a baby when a baby is in distress, the baby cries and begins to mouth breathe. As soon as we put the binki in the babys mouth or nurse, the baby returns to deeper nose breathing and calms down. When we are in state of panic or anxiety the tendency is to run, cry and start mouth breathing as we have entered into the brain stem or fight or flight response
. Purposeful mindful nose breathing brings the body out of his sympathetic state and back into our parasympathetic or calm brain. Here is a small breathing tip you can use next time you are feeling stressed.

Inhale 5 counts, hold for 5, exhale 1 through the mouth with an audible release

Do this 5-8 times until you feel the body starting to come down out of panic state
It takes the body about 20 minutes to rid itself of the extra cortisal released when we are in a state of panic. As I breathe I also like to envision my Savior or a favorite calming nature scene or offer prayer. Hope this tool is helpful.

Sat Nam, Ashley