It may seem like a ridiculous title, because who can truly forget to breathe? But, when our days get busy and life is moving at lightening speed, there are times we need to stop and simply… breathe. Of course, a healthy body won’t allow you to stop breathing literally. But it is possible for you to become so distracted in what you are doing that you don’t pause and relax even for a moment.
Oftentimes the first moment we have had to think about our breathing is when our head hits the pillow in the evening.
It’s at that moment you may notice your breathing is heavier than you realized. Maybe it’s a little more laboured. You may have even needed to consciously control your breathing for a few breaths, telling yourself to breathe in deeply through the nose…. out slowly through the mouth! After a long day of work and activity, it can take a few moments for us to bring our breathing back from the frenzied pace of our day and prepare our bodies for sleep. Why is breathing deeply and slowly so important?
Here are 4 reasons you should stop to breathe….deeply!
1. A deep breath cleanses your body with more oxygen than your regular short breaths.
2. It forces you to stop the rush. You can’t concentrate on deep breathing when you are in the midst of juggling a dozen things. You have to stop what you are doing, and put it all on “pause”.
3. It allows you to reset mentally. Allowing yourself time to NOT MOVE, to stand still or sit still, and breathe deeply requires you to be motionless. Ceasing from constant movement allows your mind to take a break. When you give your body a break you are also going your mind a break.
4. It allows the most important thoughts to come to the front of your mind. In the busyness of life, we have become accustomed to handling so many ideas and tasks at once that our brain can mis fire from time to time forgetting an important task in the sea of others. When we stop to breathe deeply our mind is allowed to filter through all of the thoughts we have processed throughout the day and the most pressing and important thoughts surface. It’s a great way to sift out the clutter from our brain!
Have you taken a break to breathe today? If not, take a few moments before your head hits the pillow tonight. Tell yourself, “In through the nose deeply, out through the mouth slowly. ” Enjoy the relaxation that breathing deeply produces.