Note to Self: Just RELAX

Every Friday there will be a 'Feel good Friday' post.  The first one starting today.  I am lucky enough to have my wonderful brother write a piece on relaxation.  He is the most chilled person I know, and he tells us how.....

One of the best things you can do to affect the way you feel is to learn how to relax.

It’s good to try and relax and remember ourselves throughout the day as often as possible.

Everything in life is easier to do when we are relaxed.

Many studies have been done on the benefits of relaxing: More energy, better sleep, better health, smoother emotions, better blood circulation…

If you like to look to nature for your examples, the animals that live the longest like the Elephant, tortoise, eagle, they all take their time and they are relaxed. They’re brilliant at conserving their energy and are very graceful in doing so.

So how can we become more relaxed?

The way you breathe can have a big impact on how relaxed your mind and body feel.

Most people don’t breathe particularly well. 

Just take a moment to notice how you are breathing now?

- Do you breathe deeply? Is your breath shallow?

- Do you breathe through your nose? Your mouth?

- Does your chest move?  Is it your stomach that moves? Maybe it’s both.

It’s said 90% of people have shallow breaths.

When your breath is shallow, you are sending a signal to your brain saying you are in an emergency which can make you feel like you’re in ‘fight or flight mode’.

Breathing in through your nose send’s a signal to say you are relaxed where as breathing in through your mouth can again put you into fight or flight mode.

You can change the way you feel with the way you breathe.

So to help with relaxing yourself, try to breathe a bit more deeply, it’s not that you have to take huge deep breathes every time, or have some complex breathing technique. Just focus on getting a little more oxygen into your body.

Stressful situations will feel a lot more relaxed if you breathe more deeply.

For the next couple of day’s see if you can affect the way you feel with better breathing.

P.S

Just RELAX J