Three minutes a day to breathe stress away.

With all that is going on with the pandemic, and vaccinations coming available but still hard to get, each of us is experiencing higher levels of stress. Most of us are well aware, stress is not good for our health. Among many other things, stress weakens our immune system, increases depression and insomnia, and affects our digestion. None of these are good for anyone, but especially those of us with IBS.

When you are stressed one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to reduce your stress…is breathe.

And that doesn’t mean hyperventilating. That will just make it worse.

Inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth is a simple and efficient way to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. This is the system that allows you to “rest and digest” rather than “fight or flight.”

Practice this breathing technique for one minute in the morning, afternoon, and evening:

Inhale through your nose counting slowly to 4 and exhale through your mouth counting slowly to 8. Repeat this cycle 3-5 times morning noon and night.

Make a note in your journal when you start this practice and do it daily. If you do, you’ll start to notice you’re feeling more relaxed, clear-headed, calm, and happy throughout the day. You should be sleeping better and your tummy should feel better too.