Do you know what the most powerful tool you have for improving your health, performance, and emotional wellbeing is?
[…drum roll…] It’s your breath!
Aside from the fact that breathing supplies your body and mind with 90% (!) of the energy you need, it also has several other indispensable benefits:
- It is perhaps the most powerful tool for increasing your emotional intelligence
- Harnessing your breath opens the door to dramatic physical/athletic performance improvement
- It is extremely effective at activating the body’s natural healing powers
The first step in accessing all these benefits is developing awareness of your breath. It is easy and only requires intention and a few minutes a day. Try this simple exercise for the next 30 days:
- Sit comfortably, close your eyes and practice a slow deep 6-second breath (inhale deeply for 3 seconds, pause, exhale completely for 3 seconds)
- Practice for 5 minutes each day
This will remind your body of how you were breathing when you came into the world. If you practice this simple exercise, you’ll notice more and more often when your breath changes – usually when you need it the most – to deal with difficult emotions, threats to your health, or to deliver your best performance.
You can watch our introductory Six-Second Breathing video here:
You can find my previous Essential Skills Posts here:
