HOW AWARENESS OF YOUR BREATHING CAN HELP YOU IN THIS CURRENT PANDEMIC

Some of the most satisfying work I’ve done in my career was lecturing in mental health law at what is now referred to as the mental health portfolio of the Health Education and Training Institute. When I lectured there the body was known as the NSW Institute of Psychiatry.

Our mental health is so damn important. Sadly, the current COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in elevated rates of stress, anxiety, loneliness, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, self-harm and suicidal behaviour. Now, in serious cases professional help will be needed but there are some things we can do by way of self-help. One of them, the subject of this post, involves simply being aware of our breathing.

Now, there’s a saying, ‘Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles and you will find comfort and guidance.’ How true that is. What happens when you are stressed? Well, a number of things. Among them, your heart rate increases, and so does your breathing which ordinarily becomes more shallow as well.

At the first sign of your becoming stressed, immediately become aware of your breathing. Don’t try to change it. Don’t try to slow it down or deepen it. Indeed, don’t ‘try’ at all. Sometimes effort defeats itself, and this is such a case. Simply be aware of your breathing where your breath is most prominently felt. Perhaps that’s in your nostrils, mouth, throat, lungs or abdomen. This varies from person to person. Wherever your breath is most prominently felt, simply be aware of the sensation—and stay with the feeling. Don’t attempt to change this in any way. Just observe and be aware.

Does your breath feel warm? Cold? Fast? Slow? Deep? Shallow? Again, don’t attempt to change any of these things. Forget all about judging yourself. There’s no right or wrong here. Things just are.

Simply observe, be aware, and stay aware, of your breathing for 5, 10 or 15 minutes—that is, for as long as it takes for your breathing to slow down as well as deepen.

That’s right. Stay aware of your breathing until it slows down and deepens of its own accord. Your awareness of your breathing will result in your breathing slowing down and deepening. How is this so? Well, awareness is non-resistance—that is, non-judgmental self-observation. Awareness is letting be and letting go. Yes, awareness effects positive changes in your body and mind. The Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, pictured, writes:

Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used. 

Now, if at any point in time during your awareness of your breathing you become mentally or emotionally distracted by some troubling thought, feeling, idea, memory or sensation, gently — please note that word ‘gently’ — bring your awareness back to your breathing.

One more thing. Don’t forget to breathe. Some people, when they become consciously aware of their breathing, forget to breathe. I am sometimes guilty of that.

Conscious awareness of your breathing will bring you relaxation and comfort. Try it.

Note. This post is a slightly reworked version of a previous post, ‘Your Breathing is Your Greatest Friend’, published on July 5, 2015.

Photo credit. The photo of Thich Nhat Hanh is by Dana Gluckstein. All rights reserved.