Don’t Forget to Breathe!

We’re coming up on many people’s favorite time of year – fall and the holidays. The intense heat is backing off, leaves are turning beautiful colors, Halloween is right around the corner and before you know it Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year are rushing toward us.

Fun right? Family, shopping, food, friends, traveling – and stress. Yes, the holiday season is almost here but for many people, rather than an enjoyable season, this time of year is marked by anxiety, dread and feeling completely overwhelmed.

If this is you, here’s a quick tip to make things better – stop right where you are and take several s-l-o-w, deep breathes. This sounds simple enough, since we all know how to breathe. But the problem is, when we feel stressed we tend to take quick, shallow breathes and this only makes things worse.

This is a very simple (but effective) technique. Don’t overthink it – it doesn’t matter if you breath in through your mouth and out through your nose or the other way around. There is truly no wrong way to breathe so just do whatever feels right for you. Put your hand on your stomach and if you can feel your hand moving back and forth you’re doing it right. Close your eyes (if you can do it safely) and as you inhale say, “I breathe relaxation in”, and when you exhale say, “I breathe stress out”. Do this several times and you’ll feel yourself calming down – it really works!

Now go on and enjoy an amazing, less-stressed holiday season – you deserve it!