Training Your Mind: Stop and Breathe Exercise
The global pandemic brought unforeseen challenges in all walks of our lives. Starting from work environment changes, organizational restructuring, small businesses closing, job loss, child care, online learning, health concerns, social restrictions, the list goes on. The stress could be overwhelming at times.
Training our minds to be able to take a mental step back everytime our mind is racing with thoughts is a vital tool in managing stress. One of the ways to help train our mind to take that mental step back is to stop and breathe when our mind is racing. It’s a simple but effective technique.
Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. Remember we are humans and not perfect so don’t expect yourself to be stress free every time you stop and breathe. Over time you will see the simplicity and beauty of this technique in managing stress.
You can do this while sitting in a comfortable position or lying down.
- Take a few deep breaths in and out.
- Close your eyes.
- Straighten your spine and focus just on your breath, inhale and exhale.
- Start paying attention to any part of your body that is tense and try to actively relax the muscles there.
- Relax your shoulders, your legs, and your jaw muscles.
- Just focus on your breath, inhale and exhale