We all have our go-to coping mechanisms for when times get tough. After the last year or so of pandemic fun and games, I’m sure we’ve all had to get creative with our strategies. Today, I want to remind us all about one of the simplest: breathing.
Unless we are dead (do zombies read?), we are breathing right now. It happens without conscious thought. However, in times of stress, some of us hold our breaths and others of us breathe a lot faster. Neither one is a particularly good idea. Fortunately, (unless the stressor is zombie attack) we have brains that can choose to regulate our breath on purpose.
The easiest way to do that is to focus on taking a long, slow inhale, and then a long, slow exhale. We can repeat until we feel calmer.
What makes breath regulation even easier in stressful moments is practicing it when things aren’t so stressful. This is one of the beautiful things about Pilates. When we move in Pilates, we sync our motions with our breath. Additionally, the mobility and flexibility we gain by doing Pilates enable our bodies to breathe more efficiently.
Short version: in, out, repeat.
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