Slow it down

I recently caught my mind absolutely racing with so much information and decisions that I was in a complete mental fluster. I was struggling to concentrate or focus on just one of the thoughts at a time. I could feel my heart rate increase and my breathing get shallower. It can feel like it’s going on for quite an amount of time but really it’s only a couple of minutes at the most. If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. I’m a bit of an over thinker, read massive, so it’s something that I face often but I’m slowly adding more and more tools to my belt for dealing with these moments.

For this one it was just a classic case of future decisions and next steps. I started thinking about a few, then a few more, then how to decide which ones first, what is it I should focus on now with what I have…… Just the usual circle of thoughts that can easily consume if left unchecked.

First I noticed my breathing and how shallow and rapid it had become. Classic signs of my body sliding into a sympathetic (fight or flight) state and one that we can regularly spend a lot of time in without the proper tools.

My thoughts went:

“Woah man, back to the breath.

Slow it down.

What can I do right now?

Slow the breath.

I’m mouth breathing.

Back to the nose.

4 seconds in, 8 seconds out.

Control.

Calm.”

 

This 1 minute of awareness basically took me completely out of the fluster and got me back on track though I had to follow up with a few extras.

“What can I do right now? That’s all that matters.”

So I pulled out my journal and started writing down exactly what was happening. What I was doing and the thoughts around it. Funny thing with writing, you can not write as fast as your mind is flowing so it forces you to slow down. I know this and it still took me three lines to become aware again. My writing slowed and became neater. I started writing each word purposefully, like it was the only word that mattered.

 

By the end of what was probably only a 5 minute period I had come back to a very calm state and had a written plan on the things that were plaguing me. Where I was heading with them and what the next step was.

Awareness is an important thing and it’s helped me to see other areas where this practice will transfer over to.

In the gym, at work, as a parent.

Next time you’re in the middle of a workout or a challenging scenario with your children/ spouse or a tight deadline at work, try to think about what your breath is doing. Obviously you can’t whip out a journal in all of these situations but a couple of purposeful breaths can help you reset and focus back in. You would be surprised how quickly your body goes to a wide open mouth breathing, sympathetic, freak out state if you’re not aware of it.

If you can get back to the breath and calm the mind than you can make exponentially better decisions than if you are rushed and flustered.

So how can we get better at this extremely important life skill?

The big one for me is my favourite place on earth, The Fortress of Solitude (My ice bath). In the ice your life descends into chaos for a few seconds while your body freaks out about the exposure. The only way through this chaos is calmness of the mind and breath. It gives me regular feedback on how I am responding to stress and how my mind talks to me. Along with this I do regular breathing sessions with the XPT Life and State Breathing apps. These help me to develop more skill and purpose around my breathing and encouraging certain states.

But, you don’t need an ice bath. A cold shower will provide most people the same level of discomfort and the situation for you to see what the voice in your mind is saying or how your breath starts to change. And then you can figure out what works best for you to calm it. At the end of the day it all comes down to awareness and how hard we are willing to work to develop it.

Take time during your day to check in on your breath and thoughts, how you feel and if you can tell what state you’re in. After that you can start to learn how to adjust those states when needed.

Pursue your potential

Dice