breathe deeply

I’ve been forgetting to do this. I’ve forgotten how helpful this is, to keep me relaxed and focused on what is important.

This is the ultimate stress-reducer. It’s free, it’s portable, it’s natural, and it has no negative side effects.

I’m doing it right now. Mmmmmm. Right now is my new life!

The other night my husband was telling me about a book* that he is reading, that there is one thing that is critical when under a panic situation. I said, I know what that is…take deep breaths. He said, you’re right!

It’s satisfying being right… although I really shouldn’t have interrupted him.

*The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley, Three Rivers Press, 2009.

I forgot to try this yesterday. There were a couple of moments when I could have taken five minutes to do this. Next time I will. I won’t forget.

I’m going to return to the Post-it reminder and the deep breath tally in my fitness log.

I had forgotten that these tools are effective.

I need to breathe deeply to get cool, stay cool, be cool in those situations that tend to undo me.

Yesterday I was trying to “multi-task” (or was it a form of procrastination, where I was jumping from one thing to another, to keep from doing any actual work)...

Anyway, I found myself getting frustrated as I realized how long my to do list had become in a matter of hours.

But I also noticed that I started breathing deeper, in an attempt to calm myself.

I found myself in a situation (driving to jury duty) where it calmed me completely.

I am tempted by food (to calm me, to energize me, to console me; whatever the mood, food devilishly tempts me as the all-in-one coping mechanism)...but I refuse to give up on the power of deep breathing.

I recommit to doing this throughout the day!

It’s still a challenge to make this second nature. I keep on.

This morning I wrote “breathe deeply” on a bright Post-it, so that I wouldn’t forget to do this, to help me counteract cravings that were a huge problem for me yesterday.

^{So, senility is setting in? Shortly after realizing that this helps me, I stopped keeping a tally in my fitness log. Argh.}

When I started to get hungry only after an hour after lunch, I saw my Post-it and took several deep breaths. Lo and behold, my cravings subsided.

Either I’m breathing better naturally, or I’m just not getting stressed out as much lately, because I don’t recall doing this the past week at all.

I’m under the gun at work, though, so I cannot remove this goal. This is so important to me, to breathe, to avoid negative coping mechanisms, such as getting down on myself, or eating inappropriately or (gasp) thinking I need to buy something. I want this to be part of the simple solution to feeling better all of the time. (The other parts are focusing on positive thoughts, doing what must be done, and enjoying baseball.)