When you find yourself getting caught up in your head, with your mind wandering from the past to the future, your breath can bring you back down to earth and into the present moment. And it’s easy.
Here’s what to do:
Take a nice deep breath, in through your nose.
Let it out through your mouth.
And repeat.
In-through-your-nose-and-out-through-your-mouth breathing can help you relax so you can focus on what’s going on around you — in the here and now — and not in some scary place that has nothing to do with what’s really happening.
When you inhale and exhale through your mouth, you are more likely to take in lots of air quickly, which can lead to hyperventilation. Hyperventilating can cause your body to react as if you were in some kind of danger, which in turn leads to tension and anxiety, and other emotions that interfere with your ability to react to what’s going on in the moment, and not over-react based on past experiences or fears about the future.
Taking air in through your nose results in filling your lungs more completely, which can have a calming effect on your body. It can even slow your heart rate.
In-through-your-nose-and-out-through-your-mouth breathing is also good for your health. Your nose warms and humidifies the air you take in and filters out the stuff you don’t want in your lungs.
Body, mind, spirit. In-through-your-nose-and-out-through-your-mouth. Feel the calm. Come back to the present moment.
This article was originally published on the patient social networking sites of Alliance Health. Here is a link: http://www.spondylitisconnect.com/ankylosing-spondylitis-articles/16-how-to-breathe-to-release-stress?category=lifestyle