QE Strong

A free guide

The breath.

Calm your body on purpose.

A calm cup of tea with rising steam by a softly lit window.

You carry with you, right now, a free and always-available tool for calming your body. Your breath. Most of us breathe shallow and fast when stressed, which keeps the body on alert. Slow the breath on purpose, and the body follows it down into calm.

The key

The exhale is the calming one. When your out-breath is longer than your in-breath, you send your body the all-clear.

Why it works

Calm on purpose

Slow, deep breathing with a long exhale is well studied for switching on the calming, rest-and-digest side of your nervous system. It can lower heart rate and ease tension. Solid Real, measurable, and free.

Learn one

Four practices

  1. The long exhale.In through the nose for 4. Out through the mouth for 6 or 8. One minute. Start here.
  2. Box breathing.In 4, hold 4, out 4, hold 4. Like tracing a square. Five rounds.
  3. Humming.Hum a low, steady note on the out-breath. Emerging The long hum does the calming work.
  4. The breath prayer.In: "Be still and know." Out: "that I am God." Six slow rounds.
Use it the moment tension rises, before sleep, or before anything stressful. If you feel lightheaded, return to normal breathing.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.Genesis 2:7

In Hebrew, the word for breath and the word for spirit are the same. Every breath is a small, quiet gift, life on loan, given again this morning. So breathe slow. Breathe grateful. And let the One who first breathed into you steady your heart.

Rak Chazak, Friend.
Rob René