Sometimes when you’re stressed, do you find it hard to breathe deeply? The idea of using breath to calm yourself is an age-old practice, but one easily forgotten in a moment of craziness or tumult.
This quote really spoke to me from guru and philosopher, Dada J. P. Vaswani:
"How true it is that a single breath is more precious than all the wealth of the world! And yet we uselessly throw away thousands of breaths every day!" *
Try this: Breathe, Just Breathe!
The next time you feel stress restricting your breath and making your chest tight, here is an easy idea for calming. It’s the 4-7-8 Breathing Technique:
- Take a deep breath in for the count of 4.
- Hold the breath for the count of 7.
- Exhale for the count of 8.
From an article in Medical News Today, "This breathing pattern aims to reduce anxiety or help people get to sleep."** For me, this technique helps me when I have a negative thought or something bothering me. Just having two or three deep breaths does relax me, allowing me to move on with my day in a better spirit.
* Quote by Dada Vaswani, https://www.facebook.com/sadhuvaswani/posts/thought-of-the-day-how-true-it-is-that-a-single-breath-is-more-precious-than-all/1662490960447912/
** How to use 4-7-8 breathing for anxiety, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417