Shanli Liu, CPA, CTP, teaches the conversational breath: inhale through your nose for two seconds, add a quick second inhale at the top, then exhale for three to four seconds. Your shoulders relax and your hands unclench. Use it to sharpen your thoughts when pressure hits.
How to handle pressure when it matters. Before you respond, take a breath. All right, not just any kind of breath. I call it a conversational breath. This is based on a physiological sigh, and it is 2 seconds in through your nose, one more at the top, then out through your nose about 3 to 4 seconds. Just in that moment, you've already recentered yourself. Probably if you did it with me, sensing that your shoulders are starting to drop a little bit and your fingers maybe have unclenched in your hand or your fist, and you can sense that you're more sharper in your thoughts, you can try that and follow me.
