If you’re like me, deep breathing isn’t always as simple and effective as it sounds. When feeling anxious, I have had the tendency to over-think and over-stress (surprise!) just how to breathe. “Is it in through my mouth? Or nose? Do I hold it? I feel like I’m gonna pass out!” Can you relate?

Anxious feelings can be closely tied to not getting enough oxygen due to habitually taking short, shallow breaths. Therefore, simply pausing and taking a long, deep breath is a powerful way to calm your nervous system and move through feelings of stress and anxiety. I like to describe taking a deep breath as using a remote control  on the brain-- helping it quickly change the channel from one stressed out show to a calmer, more relaxed show.  A deep breath can calm the nervous system (and therefore the thoughts and emotions) that effectively.

If getting worked up and needing a way to calm down is a common grown-up problem, no wonder kids...