5-second Life-Expanding Technique
Have you ever had one of those head thumping, “Duh, I should have known that” moments? Or should I ask, how often do you have these?
I had one last week at the local meeting for the International Coach Federation where Ana Almeida Melikian, PhD shared a very simple technique that I felt I should have discovered years ago.
She acknowledged that many of us teach people to breathe when they are stressed. I have been teaching people for years to “take a breath, clear your mind, center yourself and then shift to feeling the one emotion you want to carry into the moment.”
It’s the “taking a breath” part that is wrong.
Dr. Melikian explained that you can’t take a full breath into a lung that is full of residual air. When we are stressed, we breath shallowly, using only the top portion of our lungs. The lungs have to be emptied first before we can take in a full breath.
Therefore, it is important to slowly and fully breathe out first.
When you are stressed, fully release the breath in your lungs before taking in a deep, full breath. Then you can come back to breathing normally more quickly.
When you wake up in the morning, release your breath first, then take in a deep breath of air from the new day.
Throughout the day as you go from task to task and sit with poor posture at your computer, stop and release all your stale air, which allows you to then take in a fresh lungful of air to bring you back to the present moment.
Why didn’t I think of this–breathe out first?! I am grateful to Ana for sharing.
Do you have any simple wonderful life-enriching tips to share?
That’s such a great tip. I learned this through Bikram Yoga. At the beginning of each class we do a breathing exercise that warms up our lungs and expels toxins. Then at the end of class we do a different breathing exercise where we push the breath out and let the inhale come naturally. We release toxins in two rounds of different pacing to expel from the upper and lower lungs. We’re told to imagine we’re blowing out birthday candles. It works!
I learned this technique from scuba diving and have been sharing it with co-workers and friends ever since as a way to reduce stress. When you are diving, if you ever get a panicky feeling like you can’t get enough air, there is a tendency to start breathing more rapidly and shallowly, consuming your limited supply of oxygen. But to your point, this is ineffectual because you are holding on to so much residual, de-oxygenated air. Instead, even though it feels counter-intuitive, it is helpful to first breathe out all of your existing air before taking a full breath in. The result is an inflow of oxygenated air and an almost immediate restoration of calm.
My scuba diver never taught that, and it would have helped. This makes so much sense it should be taught everywhere!
