Just Breath
As someone with mental health struggles, the phrase ‘Just take a few deep breaths’ has always bothered me. Sometimes the anxiety gets so overwhelming, that “just breathing” does not work. I have learned though, that changing some of my daily habits, has decreased the anxiety I struggle with in my daily life.
The biggest positive change has been adding meditation to my daily schedule. I used to get really weirded out at the concept of meditation, but that is because I was doing it wrong. There are lots of different types of meditation, however, the one that I find most effective is guided meditation. In the morning, I have started making time for a quick guided meditation and it has changed my outlook on the day significantly.
Funnily enough, a lot of the guided meditations mention breathing techniques. As mentioned before, I am not found of “just taking a deep breath” to solve the problem. However, some of these deep breaths in the guided meditations have really helped center me. I learned I was not really taking in the breath and instead, just breathing to move on. But now, I focus my mind and body in the breath. This has really helped me focus throughout the day.
I hope the next time someone tells you to “just take a deep breath” you know, there is a lot more to it then a quick in and out breath.
