Handling Stress

"FINE," for some, stands for Frozen, Irritable, Numb and Empty. The bird story is not really funny. It is tragic. But it is so tragic that we laugh at the ridiculousness of the way the situation was handled, and the laughter helps release the anguish or sadness the situation has instilled in us. Laughter is breathing more. So is crying. It often releases tensions that invite an easier more natural breathing.

"I now understand that in times of extreme stress and confusion, I can always go back to my breath."

-- Lee Glickstein, Public Speaking Coach

From Mike:
...unless you are a little like that poor canary and have been scared out of it. Many breathing blocks become permanent unless you remove them.

Grade school children are often stressed out, and it seems they are uncontrollable, neurotic, abused, evil or whatever society decides to label that which it cannot understand/or wisely manage. A first grade teacher and I joined forces to teach 16 sick with colds, frenetic and energetic Oakland California 6- and 7-year-olds "how to breathe better." We made a game of it. After the teacher got the handle of it he continued on his own. The breathing exercise is working a lot like a meditation--without the dogma, jargon and new age fluff often associated with meditation. See Calming Classroom Chaos.

I was privileged to assist several members of the Inmate Services staff at a local county jail. I taught my Learn How To Breathe Better for stress management approach which was used as a container for ways to help control anger, drug and alcohol cravings. Both maximum- and minimum-security inmate groups were very receptive and willing to do ongoing breathing exercises. Inmate Services personnel were delighted with the results.

Some believe prison and jail should be for education. Some for punishment. I look forward to a positive response to my proposal to any jail facility to train the inmate Services Staff in my approach to one's internal energy control and management. I want to train other prison staff members as well as public school teachers, and am looking for contacts who understand and appreciate the power of the breath.

A word of caution. There are many breathing exercises that can calm. The extended exhale for instance. Some can actually level-out one person and over-amp another. But in the long run, most will suppress the effortless in-breaths that are the gateway to deepest peace within.

Almost any stressful situation, including panic attacks and quite possibly heart fibrillation, can be aided by:

• Extending the exhale to three to ten times the length of a natural inhale and then letting a deeper, longer natural breathing reflex inhale occur effortlessly. Most exercises neglect the latter reflexive portion. Lacking it over time can cause muscular constriction and eventual loss or inhibition of optimal deeper natural reflexive breathing.

• Another way is to take a deep breath in your belly, if you can sense that in the first place, and a lot of people cannot. This is the one most commonly taught by stress management specialists. It subdues many (but not all) nervous reactions including aspects of asthma but does not account for severe blocks in one's breathing nor give one the insight in how to go into the deepest possible state of relaxation and internal nervous system balance and breathing coordination.

I much prefer the first method, the extended exhale precipitating (hopefully) the large easy reflexive in-breath. It is training one to be more like the natural in-breath we take during sleep (again hopefully) which is needed to re-balance the nervous system thousands of times each 24-hour period. Take the free breathing tests, and you will get a better sense of what I am saying. The longer the attained number in test #3, generally the deeper easier the in-breath will be able to be.

The Japanese now have karishi, or time urgency. They are actually hiring people to act as emotional surrogates for friends and family. God help us all.

We encounter emotional, physical, mental and environmental stresses daily. They can be exhilarating, strengthening and clarifying or damaging and destructive. Burnout, fatigue, shame, guilt, lack of control and helplessness, epidemic-scale autoimmune disease, food allergies, chemical hypersensitivities, mental weakness and confusion plague our society. How you breathe impacts all of these.

"During a breathing session with Mike, I received more release of tension and a stronger sense of inner peace than I ever dreamed possible."

-- Ellen Heathcote, retired manager of a California State Agency

Responding, rather than reacting, is a primary goal of Optimal Breathing™. Strategies for handling distress often tempt us to rely on cognitive or thinking processes. When we try to substitute information for experience and intuition, we can become overloaded with choices and separated from our inner selves.

Breathing in spirit -- inspirating -- really is the link to body/mind/spirit integration.

Supported by a small round pillow as above or a Nada-Chair from Relax the Back Stores nationwide, sit out near the edge of a fairly hard-surfaced chair, stool or arm of a couch with feet flat on the floor, or stand. Both of these positions need an erect but not so stiff posture. Be "tallest" with your chin slightly above the horizon. If you stand, bend your knees slightly so as to unlock them.

Let your tongue lightly touch the roof or your mouth and your jaw relax.

1. Place your thumbs over your kidneys (below your back ribs and above your pelvis). Wrap your fingers around your sides, towards your belly button.

2. Squeeze gently as you nose breathe long slow deep breaths into your squeezed fingers, forcing them apart with your in-breath in your belly back and sides against their will. Simultaneously take four deep in-and-out breaths while trying to match the breathing cycle of the animated logo for a timing reference. Make sure the exhale is twice as long as the inhale. It may work better for you to use silent number counting (one thousand one, one thousand two, etc.) to gauge that. Again, just make sure the exhale is twice as long or even more than twice as long as the inhale.

Repeat it several times daily as well.

Free Breathing Tests For You

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