Calm · 2 min
The long out-breath
Two minutes of breathing out a little longer than you breathe in, before the next hard thing.
You do not need to learn a complicated technique to calm down. Most of the work is done by one small change: letting the breath out more slowly than you let it in.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Sit or stand where you are. Rest one hand on your belly if that feels comfortable.
Breathe in gently through your nose for a count of about four.
Breathe out slowly, through the mouth or nose, for a count of about six, as if you were cooling a hot drink.
Repeat for two minutes, or ten breaths. Then carry on with your day.
The reason
Why it helps
A slower out-breath is one of the body's own ways of signalling that it is safe to stand down. When we are tense, breathing tends to become short and high in the chest; lengthening the out-breath gently reverses that. Many people find it takes the sharpness off a stressful moment and makes the next decision a little easier.
A gentle variation
If counting makes you more tense, forget the numbers. Just let each out-breath be a little longer and softer than the one before, or hum quietly on the way out.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Use it before a difficult phone call, an appointment or a family conversation, and invite the person with you to breathe along. You do not have to explain it; just say, let us take a few slow breaths first.
Try it today
Before the next hard thing today, take ten breaths with the out-breath longer than the in-breath.
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