Posted by kathryn in Work life integration

Your task today, in 31 Days to Better Energy, is to spend five minutes breathing – mindfully. Strange task you might think, after all we breath all the time and it’s specifically something you don’t have to think about.

However, concentrating on your breathing for five minutes is a powerful stress management technique. When you’re stressed, one of the first things that happens is you start breathing more quickly and more shallowly – which contributes to the whole stressed out feeling. Spending five minutes slowing down your breathing, will clear your head and calm you down.

This gives you one simple tool for dealing with stress. As I’ve discussed before stress and other negative emotions are big energy drainers – leaving us more tired than we should be. You can use this technique anywhere and almost any time, in fact whenever you feel wound up. After just a few minutes you will feel calmer and more in control.

Today’s Task

Today is day four and your task is to spend five minutes breathing mindfully. Sit down somewhere comfortable, with your feet flat on the floor and your hands in your lap. Once you’re comfortable breathe in, counting for three seconds and then breathe out, again counting for three seconds. Breathe in for three and then out for three. Breathe in for three and then out for three.

Each time you breathe out, count from one to ten. When you get to ten, start back on one again and do this five times – that’s five minutes of breathing.

As you’re breathing, concentrate on the breath itself, as it fills your lungs and then empties. If other thoughts come into your head, try to let them go and concentrate back on your breath.

At the end of the five minutes, take a few seconds to check on how you feel. Do you feel differently than when you started breathing and if so how?

This post is part of a series I’m writing over August 2007 – 31 Days to Better Energy. For more information, take a look at the introductory post.

04 August, 2007