Dr. Dave teaches box breathing: inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four. Repeat the cycle to calm your nervous system and sharpen focus. Do it for a few minutes in the morning or a few cycles when stress hits during the day.
Chapters
Hey everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well and you're getting set for a good week of experiences in your life. You know, one of the interesting things that happens with our weekly routine is we go from days that are a lot of our time, hopefully, we try to squeeze that in, especially weekends for those of you who work during the week, and then Sunday night and Monday morning rolls around and we get a little bit stressed maybe. Or we notice that some of the time is no longer our own and we have to go and do some things for somebody else. And in the morning when you wake up on that first day especially, and maybe through some other days during the week depending on what you have going on, sometimes it's hard to face that day with a smile on your face and good energy and being positive. All those things that we know we should be and happy and loving and grateful and thankful, but some days it's just tough. So they say that in the morning if you get up and you can start your day with a positive kind of activity, you can really frame how the rest of the day will go. I like to start the morning not only with exercise and a good meal and doing something positive, but practicing a tool that I can use during the day when those situations arise, and I call it box breathing. And the reason it's a box is because there's 4 stages, and you can kind of picture it in your mind when you're doing it. So first thing in the morning when I get up, I like to have a couple cups of water with or without some lemon juice, and and before I do anything else, do any exercise, turn on the computer, check emails or anything, I just go and sit. And for the first few minutes I just sit and I let whatever thoughts come to my mind. And I usually find that some solutions come to my head as I'm sitting there. But then at some point I start to focus on the breathing. And what I do is for a count of 4, I'll breathe in, breathe in for a count of 4, just a normal breath, nothing deep, nothing— just a normal breath in. Then I'll rest for a count of 4, I'll hold the breath for 4, then I'll breathe it out over a count of 4, and then I'll rest or hold the breath again for a count of 4, breathe in for a count of 4. And I start with a small box. So you're counting the same 4, it might be 4 seconds, it might just be a 4 count, but the breathing is just relaxed. But then I do that over and over and I repeat and I repeat, and as I'm repeating, I'm making the length of the breathing in, the length of the hold, and the length of the breathing out bigger. So the box is getting bigger. And I find what this does is it stimulates the physiology in a positive way. And it kind of allows you to get focused and calm and allows you to prepare for whatever it is you do have to do that day. Hopefully do some exercise or have a healthy breakfast or, you know, do some meditation or read something positive before you get on with your day-to-day. But then during the day when you are encountered by a situation where you know, you're a little bit stressed or it's a challenge or you don't know what to do, you can very quickly get into this positive state of mind by doing this box breathing. And it may not be for 4 or 5 minutes like you might do in the morning when you're practicing it, but during the day you can do this box breathing 2 or 3 times. And because you've practiced it, it's very familiar to your body and it'll instantly go into better physiology. You'll become more focused and more solution-oriented., and you'll find that some answers will come to you naturally just because your body's been trained to switch into that mode. So if you're having one of those days on a Monday or any other day and you want to get prepared for it or you want to learn what to do, try starting your morning with this box breathing and see how it works for you. Reach out to us on our Facebook page or on our website. Send me an email. Let me know how it works for you. I'd love to hear from you. If you need any help with it, you can send me an email or drop by the clinic anytime. We'd love to see you. Want to help you keep creating those great experiences in your life. Have a good one. I'll catch you next time.
