Exhale

Learning how to breathe in a way that is helpful to our lives and Nervous System is not easy.  It takes practice and time when things are all going OK so that the tool and brain connection is there for you when the POOP hits the fan or someone cuts you off in traffic.  Here is a way to practice- If you find that you are often trying to; ‘calm down’ or ‘not over react’ or not yell at your kids and family- you are in need of DOWN REGULATION.  Nature gives us this with our Exhale.  Seems easy enough, however, most of us do not have access to a long exhale when we need it and we aren’t practiced with taking the time to breathe before we speak or act.  So give this a try.  pick a number between 5-10, find a candle (jars work great because it controls where the wax goes) and breathe the number of exhales that you chose into the jar, flickering the candle but never blowing it out.  See if your exhales can be at least 6-8 seconds.

There.  Done.  Now do it again tomorrow and the next day.  In a few weeks those neural pathways will be made to use this tool in life’s craziness moments.