Breathing through the Holidays

The holidays can be a joyous time of year! However, it’s also a time that for many of us packs on some extra stress: shopping, cooking, travel plans, shorter days, winter storms, family, house guests, and more family.

Take some time this holiday season to give yourself the greatest gift you will ever know: the gift of breath. Although, the holidays are very exciting the additional to do lists, tasks, asking for time off and figuring out logistics of how to get home stimulate our sympathetic nervous system.

This is the system that triggers the fight or flight response and in this case can give you that burst of energy you need to tick everything off your holiday list. However, this also causes additional stress and anxiety by putting you in a perpetual state of panic.

When this response is triggered your breathing becomes shallow, and in this state we typically breathe from our chest as opposed to our bellies. Taking time to focus on our breathing can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression; lower blood pressure, increase muscle relaxation, and improve your energy levels. There are a few strategies you can use to breathe your way to a less stressful holiday season.

First you can make it a point to start your day with breath. Before you look at your phone, check your emails, or even make your morning cup of coffee take a few moments to focus on your breath. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose using your abdomen then open your mouth and exhale just as slowly as you inhaled. Repeat three to five times.

You will notice an immediate difference in your body and mind. If you’d like to add even more benefits to this technique try the same method of starting your morning with breath but while using a breathing resistance exerciser like Expand-A-Lung.

The Expand-A-Lung immediately opens up your airways allowing you to breathe easier. Over time it strengthens your diaphragm and your intercostal muscles so that you are able to take deeper breaths, breathe easier, and even improve your endurance.

When faced with stressful situations turn your sighs (or expletives) of frustration into sighs of relief. First world problems like someone “stealing” the last parking space you were patiently waiting for can really make our blood boil. Instead of giving into the frustration let it go in the form of an exhale. This method works by tapping into you parasympathetic nervous system.

Spend at least 90 seconds taking in long deep breaths that emphasize the exhale. Inhale through your nose and exhale like a big sigh of relief. Your exhales should be audible. Like you are letting go of every ounce of stress and anxiety with each exhale. Each inhale should take at least 5 counts, and each exhale should take at least 7.

You can also use your breath to breathe away that extra tension we carry in our neck and shoulders when we’re stressed. The majority of this tension is actually caused by shallow breathing. By refocusing the way we breathe we can eliminate the tension and prevent it from coming back.

Stress induced breathing reduces the function of our primary respiratory muscle (the diaphragm), which causes the muscles in our upper body to do extra work in order to compensate. This can also result in poor posture which can add to the chronic tension and back pain. When we focus on breathing properly we re-direct effort to the diaphragm so the upper body can rest and we can adjust our posture to prevent more pain.

Because we take over 24,000 breaths a day stretching the upper body will only provide temporary relief if you don’t also refocus your energy on breathing from the diaphragm as opposed to the chest. The more stressed we become the more likely we are to begin breathing from the chest continuing to add to the tension and chronic pain. Try to breathe consciously.

If you notice tension in your upper back take a few moments to sit up straight and refocus your breath inhaling as you fill your belly with air and exhaling naturally. Using the Expand-A-Lung can also be useful tool for breathing properly long term. As the Expand-A-Lung strengthens the diaphragm over time breathing naturally (and not from the chest) becomes more intuitive. This will help improve your posture and reduce tension in you upper back.

My last holiday breathing tip is to use your breathing to disconnect from anxiety. When we worry about the future distant or near we disconnect from the here and now; and we fill our bodies with stress and anxiety.

Breath can be an incredible tool to help us focus on the present moment without allowing the anxiety of the future to creep in. Mindful meditation is a great way to use our breath to focus on the present and disconnect from the ”noise” that clutters our thoughts with stress.

You don’t need a quiet space or special posture to being a mindful meditation. All you need is to focus on the sensation of your breath. Slightly lengthen and deepen you inhalations and exhalations while you follow the path of your breath in through your nose, down through your lungs and back out again. Notice the rise and fall of your belly and the contraction of your rib cage. If thoughts come into you mind push them aside and bring the focus back to your breath staying the present moment.

Breathing is an incredible gift as without it there is no life; but we can also use the gift of breath to make this holiday season and the years to come a little less tense and a lot more relaxing.