In through the nose

“In through the nose, out through the mouth”
– Beatrice Iselin

My grandma taught me to breathe in a yoga fashion in the late 1970’s.  She was a hip and groovy lady.  We were walking on a beach and she said “Oh smell that air.”  I did and she said “Ahhh, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”  I thought she was ridiculous, but I did it because she was my Grandma.

There are physical reasons for breathing deeply.  This is from womentowomen.com:
“Breathing serves as the pump for the lymphatic system, just as the heart serves the circulatory system. Your cells must have oxygen to survive moment to moment. To thrive, they rely on a complex exchange between the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. Blood flow carries nutrients and ample amounts of oxygen into the capillaries, while a healthy lymphatic system carries away destructive toxins. Proper breathing is the moderator of this exchange.”*

I’m not a doctor, I’ve never played one on tv and I’d rather talk about how breathing can help you soar to great heights at work.  Seriously.

Deep breathing dissipates anxiety immediately if you do it with conviction.  I was born with a mountain of anxiety so any time I can find a shortcut to shortcutting a wave, I go for it.  Grandma was right about this one.  An example:

I was presenting to a group of 3 colleagues who had conflicting agendas.  I couldn’t see how I was going to woo them all and I knew I had to go for it. 

I stood up and started presenting.  One question after another were shot at me and between the 3 colleagues.  I could feel the room starting to spin and my breath getting shallower and shallower.  (Oh yeah, my shallow breath was why the room started to spin.)  The cycle began – shorter breath, red in the face, sweaty palms, stuttering, weak knees.  Then I stepped out of my body and looked at the situation. 

What power did I have here?  That question made me stop breathing altogether.  And then I quietly, very very quietly, took a deep breath in through my nose and then let it out very very slowly through my mouth.  By the time I had completed my first deep breath with conviction, I was ready and able to guide them to see common areas of interest and to consider a second review of the ideas being presented.

They never knew I did deep breathing for the rest of the meeting. They didn’t need to know my secret tool of anxiety reduction.  They just needed to see me as a leader.

Oxygen flowing to the brain allows us to think clearly.  But it’s the awareness of our breathing that gives us the confidence to do our best work.

Start paying attention to when you’re short of breath and when you’re flowing with the rhythm of the ocean waves.

You can thank Grandma.

 *http://www.womentowomen.com/fatigueandstress/deepbreathing.aspx