finding your best self as we tread these unknown waters: just breathe.

By: Dr. Melissa King

My tenet today that I want to share with each of you is simple; POWERFUL, but simple. I think of it as a way to give myself some grace. 

    JUST BREATHE!!!

I know, it sounds so simple. 

Inhale (2,3,4…) exhale (2,3,4…)

• Breathing and focusing on your breathing helps you to calm your nervous energy and focus your mind. 
• Repeat the mantra, “this too shall pass”. It might look differently after it passes, but the state that we are in right now over this past couple of weeks and for the next couple of weeks, will not be sustained. 

This is a great time to check out some of those meditation websites or practice some of those meditation techniques. Here are a few examples, this list is not exhaustive:

• Calm
• Headspace
• The Mindfulness App
• Stop, Breathe, and Think
• Insight Timer
• Go Noodle – has a great calming section for kids.

Teach your children the power of breathing.  Whenever I am feeling anxious, I pause and take some deep breaths. I learned this technique in medical school for test taking. Sometimes I feel better after 1 deep breath, other times I have to spend a couple of minutes breathing and re-focusing my brain. 

Give yourself grace. Our lives turned upside down abruptly. We had our routines and these routines were developed because they were what worked for us. Now that the system has been disrupted we have to develop our new routines. This takes time and this takes trial and error. It is a process and we may not get it right the first try. But that is OK!! We WILL figure out how to manage working, teaching our families, living in a new routine. We will figure out new ways to develop our social relationships. Give yourself time. I often say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” or “This is a journey, more like a marathon than a sprint!” I say this about developing healthy habits and I say this about our current chaos. 

It is impossible to hold onto stress and anxiety when you focus on deep breathing. 

One of the lessons my E learned a couple of years ago in 1st grade was to pretend that he was holding a cup of hot chocolate. He would close his eyes, lean in and take a big, slow breath, smelling that pretend hot chocolate. Then we would use a gentle exhale to blow the pretend steam away from his face. After we would reflect how his body feels differently. Breathing techniques!! 

Just breathe!!!

As always - stay safe, stay healthy, be active and WASH THOSE HANDS!