Two very easy and cost-free strategies to manage illness-related stress are diaphragmatic breathing and walking. Practiced regularly they provide relief and some kind of serenity.
Become aware of your usual breathing:
For a second pay attention to your breathing. How much do your lungs open up to let in air?
Most of our breathing in our hassled and hurried lives is shallow and rapid. We open up our lungs just to shoulder level. When you breathe like this, your body is not receiving a full load of oxygen, and as such is not functioning at optimal level. It is similar to not receiving enough healthy nutrients from food.
Try a deeper breath:
Now focus and take a deep, calm breath, paying attention to your lungs’ expansion, the slower speed of your breathing, and the subsequent longer exhalation. We take such breaths when we are tired or upset. It is one of the body’s defenses against exhaustion. Let us make use of it.
Diaphragmatic breathing:
The rationale underlying the use of deep breathing is simple: other than filling up your lungs with oxygen, when you make yourself breath slowly and deeply, your body cannot maintain its agitated condition. It cannot be agitated and relaxed at the same time. So, by deep slow breathing, you force your agitating system to slow down and relax a bit.
Let us now learn the proper way of diaphragmatic deep breathing, that, if practiced regularly, can produce emotional and cognitive benefits.
For starters, sit down comfortably keeping your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Imagine you have a string attached to the top of your head pulling it upward. Your neck will feel fully stretched and you chin a bit tilted towards your chest. Your shoulders are down and towards the back.
Now, place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach so that you can feel the movement. Close your eyes.
Slowly Inhale through your nose so that your stomach pushes out against you hand, making your diaphragm push away from your lungs.
Continue inhaling through the nose until you feel your chest and shoulder lung levels have filled up.
Slowly exhale through your nose so that your stomach recedes in away from your hand, followed by your chest and shoulders.
Tips
Take it slow. Inhale and exhale as slow as YOU can. Do not compare to anyone. Do not force it.
Do not try to increase the count in one go. Do it gradually.
Do not be in a hurry to increase the count. Move at your OWN pace.
Practice these deep breathing techniques two to three times a day. As you become more in control of your breath you can increase the number of times and the duration of this breathing technique until it becomes your habitual breathing during most of your day.
Start with three breaths only, not more if even you may feel you can do it.
You may get slightly dizzy during your first couple of trials.
Breath slowly at your own pace; do not overdo it.
Increase number of repetitions gradually.
