Breathe,
Breathe in the air.
Don’t be afraid to care.

Pink Floyd

Just one breath

I was in a workshop with Palladian Academy Trust a few weeks ago and one of the school leaders who were present spoke about the power of ‘just one breath’, saying she had learned it from one of her friends in the armed forces. She explained how stopping and taking just one long and deep breath had helped her stay calm and balanced at times of overwhelm and stress or when faced with a difficult situation

In his book ‘Breath; The New Science of a Lost Art’ James Nestor says ‘there is nothing more essential to our health and wellbeing than breathing.’ We breathe in and out around 25,000 times a day, and every breath has an impact on our anxiety levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. The out breath in particular has a direct impact on our ability to cultivate calm and ease.

So why not use some of our 25,000 daily breaths to keep us sane and allow us a moment to re-balance as we go about our lives?

How Mindfulness can help.

One of the first foundations of mindfulness practice is mindfulness of breath. It may seem like a really small thing, but done regularly breath practice can be liberating.

Dr Dan Siegal, the Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and Director of the Mindsight Institute, gives us a really good reason for working with the breath saying; 'It is intended to help us cultivate a healthy relationship with the inevitabilities of the difficulties of life, and is much more profound than any other training. Breath practices are designed to train the brain and the mind to embrace life as it actually is. When we can do that, we wind up being much less stressed.'

Why is the breath such a powerful ally in our daily lives?

1. The breath doesn't try to get anywhere - it's not trying to reach a ‘daily quota of breaths’ and isn’t comparing itself with anything else – it just is;

2. The breath teaches us steadfastness – we are less likely to get blown around by events when we attend to our breathing;

3. It's in the body – therefore when we are resting our attention on the breath we are 'embodied' and can be nowhere else but in the present moment - modelling presence;

4. It's not boring – every breath is a new beginning, it invites curiosity;

5. You are not in charge – the breath goes on whatever else is happening. You can start to let go of the need to 'take control'.

Let’s try a few simple breath practices.

Use your breath to find calm at times of anxiety or overwhelm

Box breathing was taught in hospitals during the pandemic to help doctors and nurses practice a quick ‘re-set’ at times of stress and overwhelm. Imagine you are following the breath around a box with four sides and count your way round.

1. inhale to a count of four.

2. Hold your full for a count of four

3. Exhale to a count of four.

4. Hold your lungs empty for a count of four.

Then repeat the cycle as many times as you wish.

Use your breath to notice and release tension

-Take a few intentional deep in and out breaths;
-Once the breath has settled into a steady rhythm take slightly longer out breaths;
-On each out breathe quickly scan those areas where you know you hold tension – maybe your jaw, your shoulders, your belly or hands are clenched;
-As you breathe out gently allow any tension to soften, perhaps noticing a slight tingling in these areas as you do so.

Use your breath to cultivate a micro pause

-Take a few intentional, deep in and out breaths;
-Once the breath has settled into a steady rhythm bring your attention to the small pause between the out breath and the in breath;
-Perhaps visualise a small cushion there, where you can simply sit in a micro moment of complete stillness;
-Say to yourself ‘nothing to do, nowhere to go’, until the next in-breath comes around.

These practices might sound easy to do but it’s remembering to do them that’s hard! Why not find a regular time in each day where you remind yourself to breathe and cultivate a little calm?

• Before getting out of the car in the morning – sit, breathe, note your intentions for the day, and experience a moment of calm. Then enter the building;

• Before switching the car on at the end of the day – sit, breathe, note what you feel grateful for in the school day that is almost over. Then set off;

• Get to assembly a few minutes earlier and stand, breathe, become still embodying calm as the children arrive;

• Take five minutes before the class are due to arrive or the meeting is due to start and resist the impulse to complete another quick task. Instead stand or sit and breathe. Allow your body and mind to settle. Then greet the children, or your colleagues as they arrive.

If you have time to go a little further here is the lovely voice of Thich Naht Hahn guiding a breathing practice for greater calm and ease.