When caught in a hamster wheel of stress, what's your escape plan?

Will's short story-From Stress to Calm and Focus in Just 2 Minutes

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Will was a dedicated IT professional, juggling demands of a busy work schedule, a new home-office setup with big screens, laptop, iPad Pro, 2 mobile phones, his family and a constant sleep deprivation, “surviving” with the help of 3-5 big pots of coffee daily.

Will was divorced and he was picking up his kid every day from school, as his ex-wife was taking care of their child in the morning. Will's new partner was working as a fitness trainer in a local gym and also taking care of her kids.

He was spending long hours at his computer desk as an IT Manager, countless conference calls, and this daily stress of managing both work and family life, made his nervous system rather wired but tired.

One particularly busy morning, after a zoom call at 8:30 am, Will just knew he needed a change.

He wasn't sure what exactly, but this wired yet tired daily flow was not an option anymore.

Will was a runner but he has gained belly fat, not only due to snacking on power bars to keep his energies high, but also due to higher stress hormone levels, lack of sleep and abundance of fast food from Monday-Friday.

Occasionally eating a healthy vegetable diet on the weekends and sipping green tea instead of coffee wasn't going to fix his belly fat nor improve his stress levels.

After his morning coffee Will felt "brain fog" symptoms, he sat at his desk and thought:"Oh Man, another day with 7 zoom calls...When am I going to do the real work again?"

This hamster wheel was real and depressing.

Photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash

Will's girlfriend bought him a course on Yogic breathing, but Will was inert to try it, even though Science-Based Breathing practices had been known to work wonders for our nervous system and overall well-being.

Will read about “Balanced Breath” and watched a video with his girlfriend once, so he got back to that material and checked step by step tutorial.

You know, it’s when you recognise a moment when you just had enough of something and you simply decide to turn a page?!

Today, Will decided to try Balanced Diaphragmatic Breath technique known for its calming effects, and he thought:" I'll give it a try during my hectic workday! I breathe anyway so let's control my breathing several minutes daily."

As he sat down at his cluttered desk, surrounded by stacks of hard drives, books, gadgets and leftovers from yesterday, Will took a deep breath In through his Nose, counting to four (4).

The never-ending stream of emails and the weight of deadlines provided him with a moment to exhale slowly through his nose for another same paced count of four (4).

He repeated this soothing rhythm for 5 breathing cycles - 5 inhales and 5 exhales, always inhaling through his nose and exhaling through his nose or sometimes through his mouth.

And Will inhaled again for a count of four through his nose, he imagined his diaphragm moving down, creating space for his lungs to fill with fresh air.

This is the essence of diaphragmatic breathing, a technique that encourages full oxygen exchange to slow the heartbeat and stabilize blood pressure, promoting overall nervous system calm.

It's a contrast to shallow chest breathing which can induce anxiety and drain energy if it becomes your prevalent normal breathing pattern.

As Will exhaled through his mouth, this time, for another count of four, Will envisioned himself beside a small beautiful pond and. His work hustle was fading into the soft movement of dry autumn leaves.

With each rhytmic inhale and exhale, Will felt a sense of calm but focus as his shoulders relaxed, and strong tingling tension in his neck and back seemed to lessen.

This is a fundamental benefit of diaphragmatic balanced breathing as it helps your body eliminate toxins through the lymphatic system. By enaging the diaphragm and promoting, deeper, rhytmic breaths, this stimulates movement of internal organs (heart, lungs, stomack, intestines, liver), enhancing lymph flow.

Several times throughout the day, Will continued to incorporate ‘Balanced Breathing’ into his work routine.

He realized that it helped him stay focused during tedious conference calls and alleviated the stress of tight deadlines.

As weeks passed by, Will's good colleague and a friend, Adam approached him one day and asked: "How do you manage to stay so calm during these hectic days?"

Will shared his "secret" of breathing practice with Adam and soon during some boring conference calls, they would silently practice Balanced Breathing together, writing each other on whatsapp during calls to coordinate their breathing practice.

In the end, Will's journey with diaphragmatic breathing proved that he could find focus and tranquility moments even in the busiest and most challenging moments of his workday.

The key was this repetitive breathing practice, which has become his favourite way of breathing, because it’s the most natural way to breathe.

Let's take a moment to practice Balanced diaphragmatic breathing together.

Find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down. You can close your eyes, if you wish. Your spine is straight but relaxed. Your teeth and jaw relaxed.

• Take a deep breath in through your nose, counting to four as you inhale.

• Exhale gently through your nose or mouth, also counting to four.

• Continue this rhythmic breathing, and feel a smooth flow concentrating on your abdomen and chest.

• As you breathe in and out you will notice a slight pause of around 1-2 seconds between inhales and exhales - that is natural and normal rhythmic breathing cycle.

• Feel a sense of calmness and relaxation washing over you, just like the soothing effect of water when showering, swimming, or drinking it.

• Now, Breathe In Through Your Nose and take a slow, deep breath in through your Nose for a count of 4 taking this breath Into your lower abdomen (diaphragm). Your Abdomen will move up as you inhale.

• Exhale slowly and gently through tour Nose or Mouth for a count of four, feeling your Abdomen fall back.

• Repeat for 5-10 rounds: it is approximately 1-5 minutes of your time.

Almost all of us experience moments like Will.

What will you do about it?

Try Balanced Diaphragmatic Breathing today.

To Your Breath!