I realized that for all the time and energy I have spent teaching how stress can affect the body, I haven't spent nearly enough time explaining what to do about it.

And my favorite remedy for stress (besides orgasmic meditation ;) ) is deep breathing.

I've touched on deep breathing in a couple articles, but haven't given you the full tutorial.

Unlike that other option you can deep breathe anywhere. Yep even in public.

Do not underestimate this. Breathing. Scoff. Right? No. Slowing down and breathing is the most effective way to flip the switch between survive and thrive mode.

And! BONUS! It’s completely free!

I'll start by describing how to breathe and then tell you how you can incorporate this practice. (It'll be easier than you think.)

Lets start with the mechanics of breathing.

Do you know how big your lungs are? They are larger than most think. They start at the collar bones and go down to the bottom of your rib cage, where they meet the diaphragm, a thin muscle separating the chest and belly cavities.

This muscle is a key apparatus in proper breathing techniques, and incidentally is the halfway house for our emotions (according to BodyTalk). The diaphragm helps us process and release our emotions via crying, laughing, and connecting to the large intestine for fecal elimination. Yep.

Anyhoo...tutorial time.

Inhalation

Sit comfortably with your feet planted on the floor.
Keep your spine tall while maintaining its natural curves.
Place one hand on your belly, and one on your chest.
Begin to breathe in through your nose.
Allow your lungs to fill with air with out your shoulders raising up towards your ears, which engages the neck muscles and actually creates more tension.
As the lungs fill the diaphragm will flatten towards the abdominal cavity pushing the belly out on your inhale.
If you can, hold this inhalation for a couple seconds.

Exhalation

As you exhale through your mouth or your nose, your belly will settle back towards the resting position, closer to your spine.
The rib cage will move back to neutral as well.

If you're confused, watch a baby breathe. They do this effortlessly. Interestingly, not unlike tantrums, breathing is something we UNlearn as we develop in a world full of social expectations.

Ideally we breathe like this most of the time to flood the body with oxygen. However, if 24/7 seems ambitious, start small.

I recommend building up to 100 deep breaths per day.

If you were to rock those out all at once, it would take you about 10-15 minutes. Here's what to do if you don't have that kind of time.

You can break 'em up.

Employ the rule of waiting: Anytime you find yourself waiting for anything use that as productive deep belly breathing time. Examples of waiting time could include: traffic jams, red lights, in line at a store, in line for anything, doctor's offices, on hold, during commercial breaks. Again, no one needs to know you're doing it. Suddenly you're a deep breathing ninja!

Try sticky note reminders: Strategically place sticky notes in places you see a lot: on a computer monitor, a door you walk through often, a mirror, the dash board in your phone, as a background image on the your device. When you see that sticky note, stop and take 5 deep breaths into the belly.

I don't really care how you remember, but I just ask that you find a way to remember.

In the comments below, I'd love to know your favorite place to ninja breathe. Of if you haven't tried it, where is the first place you're gonna? Let me know!

To your healthy, thriving, delightful life!
Dr. Tonia