Exhale and Countdown

When I am about to do anything where I need to focus: speak publicly, hold a direct conversation, hit a golf ball, etc. I make sure that I inhale breath into my lungs and the exhale completely. This does something to our nervous system—it helps in calming us. Deep breathing is akin to breathing when we are running from something—flight or fight. Breathing out has the opposite effect.

Then, I count down from three. It is an intellectual note preparing me to begin. I do not count upward, because I can trick myself into making the number go higher — from 3 to 5 to 10 — and avoid beginning what I am present to do. So when I am set in my breath, I count down to three and then “let it rip!” It is the same for standing over my golf ball, lifting weight in the gym, or having crucial conversation.

It is helpful to control your physiology so that it wont add fuel to the fire of anxiety—there is only a vicious cycle to be found in physiology causing ruminations, for these ruminations can also effect our physiology in the form of panic.