Try This One Minute Breathing And Stress Relief Exercise

There are many stressors that we face day to day and this does have a shifting impact on our quality of life, our relationships, our state of mind when making decisions and of course our health. According to the Global Organization of Stress “80% of workers feel stress on the job.”

You may find yourself looking to nail down a reliable and easy-to-do stress reduction solution like I did. When I went to Thailand, my intention was to bring back those key learnings that would rally make an impact on your life. Upon discovering that one of my learnings from yoga teacher training when brought back to my day to day life in New York City  allowed me to reduce the stress I had to share!

While in Thailand, I took yoga training to help demystify the practice, remove the intimidation, and insert its daily meaning. I learned and confirmed that regardless if you are just beginning or have many years of practice, you can do yoga. One of my favorite things to share is that if you can breathe, you can do yoga.

I say this to truly empower you. Yoga is for everyone and know that in this article you are going to learn how to optimize yourself as well as move with more intention as you work to achieve your goals.

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh states “Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body”. As you begin to practice this breathing technique and even just paying more attention to your breath you may begin to realize and feel how connected we are to our breath.

The one minute breathing technique is called “Bhramari Breath” also known as “Bee Breath”. I had to share this specific learning from my training, as this was a part of yoga that I never encountered in my over 19 years of practice. The benefits are numerous and quite helpful.

As confirmed in this Harvard study stress can literally change your DNA. We can encounter stress on a daily basis and the repeated impact will take a toll on our body.

If you are like me, when you first tried to start meditation you may find yourself asking “Am I doing this right?… Am I at peace now?….What am I supposed to do when my mind will not quiet?”. These questions came up after doing Bhramari Breath. I found that I had to take a step back and note this breathing could help me with one key aspect of meditation–listening to myself and moving with intention. Because this technique closes off the two senses through the covering of your eyes and ears, you will experience simply the sound of your breath. You are able to really focus on yourself even if you are in the middle of a crowd. Second, when you do this first thing in the morning you are putting yourself in the driver’s seat.

For stress,  simply do this before work or if you are out you can go to the restroom.

For ease into meditation and mindfulness, do this first thing in the morning and note how you feel on days that you do it versus the days you do not.

In rounds of three:

Step 1 – Sitting comfortably with a back straight place close your eyes. Place four fingers (excluding the thumb) over your eyes (do not press on eyelids).

Step 2 – Place thumbs on ears to block sound.

Step 3 – Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the nose in a humming that you will feel in the back of your throat.

Repeat three times. This exercise is best done in rounds of three.

Step 4 – After you are finished, remove hands with eyes still closed and slowly open your eyes.

Here is a video to demonstrate.

Try adding this exercise to your tool kit as you navigate life. This is something that you can do as frequently or as infrequently as you like. Whether you are working to get to the next level at your job, run your own business more efficiently, or trying to find an effective method of relaxation, this will help.