Improve Your Health by Breathing Properly

Are you feeling stressed and want a quick tool you can use to address this?

Most people are upper-chest breathers, areas associated with anxiety and stress.

However, if you start breathing from your stomach this induces calm and a relaxed feeling.

To begin practising this sit back at a slight angle - say in a comfortable chair - making sure your neck is supported.

Place your hands on your stomach and breathe in through your nose to about the count of 7 - imagining that your stomach is a balloon and that you are inflating this as you feel your stomach rise.

After a brief pause start breathing out through your nose to about the count of 11 feeling your stomach deflating like the balloon you have envisioned it is.

Repeat this process 3 times and you should feel much more relaxed and - with a bit of practice - now know how to breathe from your stomach.

When you breathe in you are oxygenating your body and giving it energy from stimulating the sympathetic nervous system.

If you feel soreness in any area of your body take your mind there and breathe into that area to direct the oxygen and energy to that place and help the muscles in that area relax.

Most of us have a tight neck or shoulders so directing energy to these area will help to loosen them.

When you breathe out you are detoxifying and relaxing by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Just carry out this exercise whenever you think of it, for example, when you get in from work.

Research shows that since breathing is the best tool we have for relaxing quickly it also helps us to stay in control of our behaviours, such as, not giving in to comfort eating. How great is that?

Please let me know how you get on with this by leaving a message.

If you would like to know more about stress and anxiety management then please get in touch via our website at West of England Coaching and Counselling.

Relaxation By Yourself - A 10 Point Plan For Relaxing

You can read the following 'relaxation by yourself' instructions and after a few practices you will have your own in-built relaxation habit which you can use daily to reduce stress and anxiety.

1. Sit in a comfortable chair or lie on your bed. Ensure you will not be disturbed by other noises. If you become aware of sounds ignore them. Make sure the whole of your body is comfortably supported - including your arms, head and feet.
   
2. Close your eyes. Feel the chair/bed supporting your whole body - your legs, your arms, your head. If you can feel any tension, begin to let it go like releasing a clenched fist. Take three slow and deep breaths, and let the tension begin to flow out imagining it like sand in an egg timer.
   
3. Become aware of your head - notice how your forehead feels. Let any tension go and feel your forehead become smooth and wide. Let any tension go from around your eyes, your mouth, your cheeks and your jaw. Let your teeth part slightly and feel the tension go.
   
4. Now focus on your neck - let the chair take the weight of your head and feel your neck relax. Now your head is feeling heavy. Let your shoulders lower gently down. Your shoulders are wider, your neck is longer.
   
5. Notice how your body feels as you begin to relax.
   
6. Be aware of your arms and your hands. Let them sink down into the chair. Now they are feeling heavy perhaps limp.
   
7. Think about your back - from your neck to your hips. Let the tension go and feel yourself sinking down into the chair/bed. Let your hips, your legs and your feet relax and roll outwards. Notice the feeling of relaxation taking over.
   
8. Think about your breathing - your abdomen gently rising and falling as you breathe. Let your next breath be a little deeper, a little slower.
   
9. Now, you are feeling completely relaxed and heavy.…. lie still and concentrate on slow, rhythmic breathing….
   
10. When you want to count back from 3 to 1 and open your eyes. Wiggle your fingers and toes, breathe deeply and stretch. Pause before gently rising.

If you have found this blog helpful and relaxing please leave your comments. If you, a friend or relative would like help with reducing their stress and anxiety please get in touch via our website West of England Coaching and Counselling.

Managing Stress Through Helpful Questions

When you find yourself on the 'tipping point' of becoming stressed with all the dreadful feelings and behaviour that usually ensue STOP and take a deep breath.


Now, ask yourself the following questions (they work for me and I truly was a big stress-head!):

1. What am I reacting to?
2. What is it that I think is going to happen here?
3. Is this fact?
4. What's the worst (and best) that could happen? What's most likely to happen?
5. What would I like to happen - my outcome?
6. How helpful is it for me to think this way?
7. Am I getting things out of proportion? 
8. Is it worth it?
9. How important is this really? How important will it be in a month's time? 
10. What meaning am I giving this situation?
11. Can I see that this meaning is inflexible?
12. Am I overestimating the threat?
13. Am I underestimating my ability to cope?
14. Have I got my ‘stress-head’ on?
15. What do I look like to other people? How am I affecting them?
16. Am I mind-reading what others might be thinking?
17. Am I believing I can predict the future?
18. Is there another way of looking at this?
19. What advice would I give someone else in this situation?
20. Am I putting more pressure on myself?
21. Just because I feel bad, doesn't mean things really are bad.
22. Can I do things any differently here?
23. How much can I control in this situation? What is outside of my control?
24. What changes (however small) can I make to those things that I am able to control?
25. What do I want or need from this person or situation? What do they want or need from me?  Is there a compromise?
26. What would be the consequences of responding the way I usually do?
27. Is there another way of dealing with this? 
28. What would be the most helpful and effective action to take? (for me, for the situation, for the other person)
29. What could I gain/lose?
30. What will I do?

If this blog has been helpful then please do leave a comment. If you, a friend or relative would like support in managing your stress or anxiety please get in touch via our website West of England Coaching and Counselling.

Stress Management

Do you ever think now 'I can't cope...this is too much' about work, personal or relationship issues?


Do you feel anxious, angry or depressed or perhaps all three?


Do you notice your heart racing, tense muscles, headaches, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, restlessness, irritable bowel, sleeping disturbances, eating more or less, drinking more alcohol, upset, shouting, arguing...?


The first step is to identify what is making you stressed and then you can then either remove the triggers or change your response to them.


Say for example, it's your career and you are stressed about possible redundancy and the financial implications of this.


In this case you are not in control of removing the trigger - the redundancy threat - but you are in control of how you to choose to view it. 


You can stress and feel sorry for yourself or you can take action by updating your CV and use your network to identify job opportunities.


No one is saying that life stresses are always easy to handle, however, there is often a solution if we stay calm and in control.


What tools are useful for staying calm and in control? Here are ones that I have used, some of which I continue to use:

• Mindful extended breathing
• Relaxation CD with progressive muscle relaxation
• Focus fully on an activity
• Pampering e.g. aromatherapy massage
• Exercise - especially yoga
• Help others
• Be with others - i.e. your friends and family
• Keep a gratitude journal
• Have a regular enjoyable hobby, interest
• Prioritise
• Say no - Not for now
• Write down your thoughts and feelings
• Positive self-talk/affirmations e.g this is temporary and will pass
• Healthy eating
• Cut down on caffeine and alcohol

One of my clients has each of the above tools written down on slips of paper in a box and each day she picks one out (like angel cards) to focus on.


I think that I know a bit about this because I used to stress about the smallest of hitches and now I definitely 'don't sweat the small stuff' or even bigger things that I cannot do anything about, for example, the economy, job security, impact on pension...


I do take action though when things don't go as I expect and I do make a plan. After all, we must recognise that worrying is futile. 


We are better off thinking about our outcome and planning a way forward.


So, if you are currently worried about losing your job update your CV, share it with your network and make a plan to find another employment opportunity.


We are currently working with a number of clients on helping them find a way forward following redundancy or helping them to prepare for redundancy. If this is you please get in touch via West of England Coaching and Counselling.