While at rest (parasympathetic nervous system drive) we should be mostly nasal breathing. Merely by breathing through our nose, we stimulate more diaphragmatic inhales and exhales. Our Parasympathetic Nervous System is known as the ‘rest and digest’ system whereas our Sympathetic Nervous System is responsible for the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response.
Now, which one of those systems do you think we should be tapping into most throughout the day?
Read MoreThat dude in the truck cuts you off at the zipper merge, we have a giant deadline coming up, and your kid is throwing a tantrum in the back seat. Stress is a bugger. But we can learn to handle it a LOT better.
How? Just like any exercise or habit. From repeated and conscious attention to it. Simply by forcing ourselves into micro-stressors helps us mitigate our responses to more expansive ones. This is not akin to being afraid of heights and deciding to 'get over it' and walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers. Go back and read the first sentence of this paragraph again. Repeated and conscious attention. We have to be mindful and deliberate with how we proceed through the stressors.
