Laugh to Change Your Breath: Stress Reduction Tip

Signal your body to let go of stress – breath is important!

In a program today about active recovery for unavoidable stress we discussed how we can train to perform well under pressure much like a high-performance athlete trains for the pressure of sports. One of my favorite tips to reduce stress is changing your breath.

When we are stressed, we take short shallow breaths. Any time we lengthen and deepen our breath it is a signal for our bodies to let go of the stress hormone, cortisol.

How do you do change your breath? Here are some ideas:

• Many stress reduction strategies like yoga and meditation involve breathing exercises.
• Physical exercise also changes your breath.
• Singing elevates your mood and lengthens your breath.
• Laughter is a great way to change your breath too.

If you need a quick laugh to stimulate a breath change and reduce your stress – try watching one of my favorite videos:

The bride’s infectious laugh never fails to do the trick for me!

Enjoy!

I wish you low stress and great success.