Coping With Predictable Stress: Rehearse and Anchor

Rehearse and Anchor is a deceptively simple yet powerful exercise that will serve you well for the rest of your life. For those scheduled, potentially stressful events such as colonoscopies, wedding toasts (I don’t mean to equate those two), job interviews, ski jumps, birds-and-bees discussions with your kids (I don’t mean to equate those either) – VISUALIZE AND BREATHE.

Since we are dealing with a predictable scheduled situation here, you have plenty of time to rehearse in advance. The time just before you drift off to sleep is an especially powerful time to set new paths in the brain. Like any other practice, the more you rehearse, the better.

See yourself moving through the event easily IN GREAT DETAIL. As you visualize, keep your entire body completely relaxed and your breathing deep and slow and steady. Don’t be concerned if the details you imagine turn out to be slightly different when the time comes. You will have mapped the ideal response into your brain and that will serve you well. The steady breathing is essential because it carries the positive images into your neuromuscular memory.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Link: Hill and Valley Breathing

Plague on the Plane!

You are flying home for a wedding and the person in the seat next to you has a super-sloppy sneezy cold. The FAA takes a dim view of your stuffing a passenger into the overhead. The flight attendant will be terribly amused when you ask to be moved to another seat.

Some travel specialists suggest putting a little antibiotic cream in your nose although that won’t defend you from a viral ambush. Vaseline in your nose, however, will help keep you hydrated for the journey and hydration is crucial! Dried out nose, sinuses, eyes and throat cripple your glorious glistening pulmonary mucus blanket that is designed to trap and repel dangerous incoming stuff. Once this protective layer dries out, you are a sitting dried-out duck.

Drink lots and lots of water the day before the trip and lots and lots of water on the plane. LOTS. Notice I did not say coffee, soda, or alcohol, all of which dry you out. Take along eye drops and hand-sanitizer gel that comply with carry-on restrictions. You could wear a tight-fitting mask and tell everyone you are protecting everyone else from YOUR cold. Not very practical but then if you are to be the maid-of-honor . . . . .

You need to be up and moving whenever the aisle is clear to keep your legs free of possible clots anyway and with Typhoid Mary shoulder to shoulder, it is even more important.

And finally, DO NOT SLEEP ON THE PLANE. This is dangerous for your legs and very dangerous for your respiratory system. You will mouth-breathe and you can’t afford it.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sleeping with Monsters

Your sleeping body sheds copious amounts of dead skin cells because that’s what skin must do to keep you looking fresh and beautiful. To make matters worse, you are not able to be careful about your breathing when you sleep. Mouth open and all that.

Your skin cells are everywhere in your bedroom. So are the microscopic dust mites that feed on them and grow fat. Remember, Mother Nature doesn’t waste much. Mites survive because humans and their pets shed and, as thanks, they irritate your respiratory system because humans are super sensitive to proteins left behind in the mites’ feces.

Mites are microscopic, eight-legged, spiderlike, sightless super ugly critters that would be great in a horror film if they were as big as a cow. They eat. They poop. You cough. No symbiosis here.

They thrive by the millions in dusty, dark, humid, warm places. STARVE THEM OUT!

A perfect bedroom is bright, cool and dry without upholstered furniture and clutter (sorry, kids). If possible replace your carpet with flooring that can be wet-mopped. If you can’t bear to part with your lovely new bedroom rug, then steam clean it often. Shutters or blinds are better than drapes.

Vacuum and dust thoroughly at LEAST once a week. Wash your bedding OFTEN in HOT water. Keep pets and food out of the bedroom or at least bathe your pets frequently. Sweet dreams.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Insomnia, Impatience And Wasted Time

WASTED TIME is actually FOUND TIME. Such fragments actually add up to a potentially productive total by the end of your week if you prepare ahead of time.

In ADVANCE select a couple of your favorite breathing exercises that don’t require a lot of movement. Actually, deep slow steady breathing will do or you could simply begin by counting your breaths.

Since there never seems to be enough time to practice mindful breathing, meditation or contemplation, planning ahead will help you do something useful during those unscheduled disruptions of your schedule. You will be taking charge of the situation and using your time wisely.

So when the bus is late, when the elevator is slow, when you are on “hold” for days, when you are stuck in gridlock, launch one of your pre-planned breathing exercises and be grateful for the luxury of that rare bit of found time.

Otherwise, you will trigger stress chemistry that squirts into your body and your time will be worse than wasted.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathe Your Way Out Of Bed

The alarm clock pierces your dream!!! Your feet hit the cold floor and you are flying 0-to-60 in six seconds! Your brain, heart and spine are still in deep sleep mode. This shot-from-a-cannon wake-up leaves you vulnerable to back pain or even a heart attack. A jolt of caffeine slaps the body “awake.” If you take meds for heart or blood pressure, it has been many hours since your last pill.

This flying leap out of a sound sleep is acceptable only if Freddy Kruger is coming through your bedroom window.

Allow your heart, brain and spine to wake up naturally. Take three deep slow breaths, eyes still closed. Three deep slow breaths, eyes open. Curl into a fetal position with your knees at the edge of the bed. Push yourself slowly upright with your lower arm and swing your feet over the edge to the floor. Stand up slowly and stretch. It takes only a few extra seconds and you will feel better all morning.

Try this little trick: as you are drifting off to sleep, command the brain to awaken you five minutes before the alarm is set to go off. You need to be almost asleep for this to work. And here is a wonderful bonus: brilliant ideas will bob up from your unconscious for just a few seconds during that SLOW wake-up stage. These wonderful bits of data will dissipate almost instantly and are never even noticed when you fling yourself out of bed as if your jammies were on fire.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sleep Apnea

APNEA n. – “a temporary suspension or absence of breathing.” Hopefully someone nearby will notice if you stop breathing during the day and if you’re lucky they will be CPR certified. I trust you are.

It’s a tougher problem at night when your breathing stops during sleep or slows to a dangerous level. Although this is not a rare condition, most people have no idea they have it.

If you rattle the neighbor’s dishes with your snoring, if you wake up suddenly gasping for air as if you’ve been too long under water, if your sleep mate notices that you have an erratic breathing pattern or if you wake up each morning as tired as when you went to bed - then it’s time to have a long discussion with your doctor or pulmonary specialist.

This is serious business and can be fatal. These days, doctors have gotten pretty good at testing for and correcting the condition. However, it is your job to bring your concerns to their attention.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.