Stressed out people will go on cigarette breaks, people will puff after a torrid embrace. Probably the top reason why people smoke is its apparent property to relax us…
Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, smoking is all about breathing! That exercise smokers do several times a day is focused on taking deep and slow in and out breaths. I’d even speculate (as a former smoker) that the smoke, a visual monitor of our breath, is a fun and stimulating element that makes a smoker inhale and exhale more deeply than they normally do. That gesture alone is what gives smoking its calming benefit, not the nicotine or the smoke.
So perhaps pretend you are a smoker and take “cigarette breaks” several times a day. Deep slow inhale and slow exhale. It’s truly amazing how paying attention to this simple and basic thing we do naturally without thinking every moment of our life can have such a calming effect to both our body and mind. It will help reduce your stress, anxiety, depression etc.
