A Habit For Instant Stress Relief 🌱

in·spi·ra·tion

noun

Definition: The drawing in of breath; inhalation.

(Also, the process of being mentally stimulated to do something creative.)

Stress isn’t bad; it’s your response to it that negatively affects you.

So, what can you do to take control of its impact?

SCIENCE:

Deep breathing activates the body's parasympathetic nervous system, the "rest and digest" counterpart to the stress-induced "fight or flight" response.

When you take deep breaths, you:

• Take in more oxygen

• Allow your heart rate to slow

• Allow your mind to slow down

By intentionally breathing, you offer yourself a physical and mental distraction from stressors, an easy form of meditation.

IMPACT:

A study found that controlled deep breathing helps regulate the amount of noradrenaline, a ‘stress hormone’ produced in the brain.

When you are stressed, your brain can produce too much noradrenaline, causing trouble focusing.

When you are sluggish, your brain can produce too little noradrenaline, also causing trouble focusing.

Deep breathing helps you find a balance of noradrenaline where your emotions, thinking, and memory are much clearer.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Why habits? Your time is valuable and limited; you don’t need more complex systems. My goal is to provide you with simple, effective tools to support your physical and mental well-being and make you more efficient and conserve mental energy. (read more)

Step 1: Sit or stand in a comfortable, relaxed position

Step 2: Inhale through your nose for 5 seconds

Step 3: Exhale through your mouth for 5 seconds

Repeat as many times as you need. It’s that simple.

TOOLKIT:

In every edition of Creatures of Habit, I feature a product to help you implement this week’s habit.

While there are many meditation apps out there, I have been using Headspace for over 7 years (7 years and 87 days to be exact).

Here’s my proof:

Over 7 years straight, every day. That has been my commitment to myself, even if it’s only 5 minutes.

CHALLENGE:

This week, any time you feel stressed, take a moment for some deep breathing to bring yourself to focus solely on being here, in the moment.

Until next week!

- Jenna Gestetner :)

P.S. Welcome to everyone who joined us since last week. Subscribe if you haven’t already, and say hi on LinkedIn.

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