When was the last time you thought about breathing?

In our rushed, overpacked world many of us are happy to simply let our body do its work and trust that the breathe in, breathe out thing is under control. But when was the last time you really thought about your breathing?

I encourage you to stop reading and take a moment to check in with your body.

• Are you breathing from your chest and upper body or from your belly?

• Are your shoulders at your ears as you breathe or are they where nature intended?

• Is your breathing short and shallow or deep and long?

Becoming aware of how we are breathing is the first step to making your breathing work better for you. Breathing consciously, rather than automatically, brings many benefits to mind and body:

1. Deep breathing improves our respiratory system

   Breathing from the belly opens up the chest, relaxes the diaphragm and primary breathing muscles and enables a more relaxed posture…..it’s very difficult to breathe from the belly and keep your shoulders at your ears at the same time…try it!

2. Deep breathing calms the nervous system

   Shallow breathing means that we are restricting the amount of oxygen being taken in. Our bodies read this lack of oxygen as the result of us being scared - freezing and holding our breath, or running from something, struggling to get oxygen into our lungs. In turn this triggers stress hormones to flood into our systems to help us fight, hide from or flee the perceived foe. The result of continued shallow breathing? A nervous system that is always on high alert. Do your body a favour, stop and breathe.

3. Deep breathing calms the mind

   The very act of becoming consciously aware of your breathing is at the heart of mindfulness and meditation. When you are truly focused on the sensation of breathing in and out, you slow down thoughts that otherwise whirl in our minds unchecked generating overwhelm and anxiousness. When we breathe deeply we increase our intake of oxygen to the brain, helping improve clarity, creativity and centred-ness.

Make time to breathe…

Image by @Charlesz

It’s all too easy to forget to breathe deeply in the daily hustle and bustle. Overcome this by:

• setting an alarm on your mobile phone with the label, “BREATHE” .

• When the alarm goes off take 2 mins to become conscious of your breathing, breathe deeply and fully.

Your body and mind will thank you.

You’ve spent the last 3 months juggling working from home and keeping your business afloat with home schooling, caring for relatives and the more vulnerable members of your community. You’ve promised yourself you’ll get out for that walk or run tomorrow, but tomorrow comes and you’re back on the hamster wheel again.

If this sounds familiar then Active Coaching is 100% for you, I take the guilt out of “me time” by combining your desire to exercise and spend time outdoors with working on your business, leaving you just that little bit more time to tackle that to do list!

What is Active Coaching?

Active coaching is life or business coaching ‘on the move’.

As an active coaching client you decide whether you would like to spend the session walking, jogging or running. We will work together to find an enjoyable route and decide on the level of intensity on the day based on your energy levels.

After a short check-in session where we will explore and agree the business/life focus for the session, we will set out on foot for up to 45 minutes. While walking, expect challenging questions asked with empathy to get to the root of what’s on your mind, explore potential solutions, weigh up those solutions and ultimately agree your course of action.

Here’s a short video that sums things up.

How will I feel after the session?

You will leave the session lighter (of mind, I can’t promise any weight loss!), energised and ready to get to work on your action plan.

The combination of exercise, fresh air, a listening ear and constructive questioning can make a significant difference to your energy levels.

Research shows that in the two hours post exercise we experience better mood, faster reaction times and an improved ability to shift and focus attention. The ideal time to put your plan in action.

Can I access active coaching from anywhere?

Covering the central belt of Scotland for face to face active coaching and using an online to on-foot, on the ‘phone model for the rest of the UK, I’ll make sure you have guilt-free, productive “me-time” in your currently over-stuffed week. I understand, I’ve been there!

Kelly

Those of “a certain age” will remember the 70’s Children’s Game - Buckaroo. It shared a stable (sorry!) with the likes of Mousetrap, Ker-Plunk, the incredibly well named, Frustration, and Operation. The games you took in to play on the last day of school.

Many Scottish households have had the last day of school this week, and with it perhaps a slight easing of pressure associated with the myriad roles being undertaken by many in Lock-down - worker, parent, teacher, entertainer to name but a few.

In a conversation this morning, the person I was chatting with referred to having had “a buckaroo kind of week”. This immediately took me back to childhood and a memory of the plastic mule quietly bearing more and more load until something as innocent and unassuming as a miniature water canteen, triggers an apparently disproportionate reaction. And in that instance, I got it!

There have been days and yes, sometimes weeks, during lock-down when on the surface it looks like I have “lost" the heid” , at the sight of a plate that has failed to make it into the sink. That plate is my plastic water canteen. It represents failing to recognise that I have become overloaded and need to take time to carefully and gently remove the guitar, spade, saddle and cowboy hat that represent the other tasks and roles that I have wordlessly accepted as mine and mine alone.

What I do to answer overwhelm…

1. Recognise that I am feeling overwhelmed, name it and then STOP

2. Get out for a walk or run as soon as possible

3. Capture the ideas that pop up during my walk/run in my Movement and Mind Journal

4. Use the endorphin buzz from my exercise to focus and write down all the tasks and to-dos that are in my mind, my calendar and notebook in one place. The act of gathering and writing it down in one place often turns the mountain (as seen in my mind) into a molehill

5. Decide whether I NEED to do it as opposed to WANT to for some weird reason like “the person won’t like me anymore if I don’t” !

6. Decide if I WANT to do it, even if I don’t NEED to because I will grow from it in some way or it’s just plain enjoyable

7. Identify if someone else can do it and ASK FOR HELP

8. Hold up each task left on my list against my purpose and decide on priority based on how it will impact - this reinforces WHY I’m doing something and helps me discard or de-prioritise things that don’t immediately serve my purpose.

Movement and Mind Journal