Stop.
Take a deep 4 second inhale. Hold it for 4 seconds.
Now exhale for 8 seconds. Repeat 2 more times.
This simple breathing technique can calm stress and anxiety, down regulate your nervous system and put you into a “rest & digest” state – useful particularly during the hectic holidays.
Yes, a simple breathing technique can do. In fact, including breath work into your daily routine can not only lower stress; it can also improve overall health.
Stress in a part of everyone’s life. It’s actually important for us to grow, adapt and become stronger. When you exercise, you stress your muscles. Then, when you give them time to recover, they come back stronger.
But the kind of stress we experience and HOW we experience it is what determines if it helps us grow or hurts us.
We are one of the astute organisms on the planet when it comes to adaptation. In fact, our entire genetic code is built upon becoming optimized when faced with stress. And yet as a society we’re sicker than we’ve ever been.
I believe a major reason for this is that we have massively restricted the natural stressors we used to encounter on a daily basis. Technology, climate control, increasingly sedentary workplaces, and the ability to have everything at our fingertips without leaving the house remove the stressors we would typically encounter in life.
This means our bodies are actually screaming for us to induce a little more stress – such as that induced by physical activity, exposure to hot and cold and the introduction of new challenges – but more on this in a later post.
For now, here are a few tips based around coffee and stress —
- If you suffer from issues with sleep, stress, adrenal fatigue, a chronic illness or if you’re overtrained, you may only be able to handle a very small dose of caffeine (if any) or fasting. If you do suffer from any of these, eliminate coffee 8 hours before bedtime (or earlier if you are caffeine sensitive) or switch to a good-quality decaf.
- Don’t consume caffeinated coffee post-workout. It may raise cortisol, which negates all the good things you did for your body by exercising. Stick with decaf.
- Don’t mask fatigue and overtraining with caffeine. Make sure to get good sleep and cut off the caffeine at the appropriate time. And if needed, do a caffeine reset.
- Use coffee in your daily routine to trigger a healthy habit. For instance, once you finish your first cup of coffee, do some type of movement practice such as a walk or 10 minutes of yoga.
- Use coffee as a meditative practice. Coffee can be made in so many ways, some of which can be very meditative. One of the most relaxing is called the pour-over technique. Enjoy the process and be truly present.
- Take a minute in the morning to give gratitude for the delicious cup of coffee you’re about to consume and all the health benefits it’s about to provide you. Do this for two weeks and see if you notice anything cool happening. Then, report back.
- Don’t forget to focus on your breath throughout the day and use the above breath technique when you’re feeling stressed — 4 in, 4 hold, 8 out.
Sign up for the full 21-Day Black Coffee Challenge here.
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Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link so I do earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thanks in advance if you do choose to go through the link above! If you have any questions about this product, let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.
