1% Thursday: Breath Deep

This week, practise taking slow, deep breaths instead of quick, shallow ones.

You might be surprised, but I have heard of people who have basically dealt with their headache issues simply by learning to breath better.  That may be pretty simplistic for most of us, but I still believe that for everyone it’s a powerful therapy that very well may be worth more than 1%.

Breathing better isn’t hard, and many of us already know how to do it.  The problem is we don’t do it automatically, and don’t remember to do it.  But it’s one of the most basic and most important things our body does, so improving this aspect of our health can not only minimize our symptoms and hopefully our attacks, but also help us to cope when the pain comes.

I’m not going to go into detailed breathing exercises today, but let’s just remember the basics.  Breath slow and deep.  It’s good once in a while to breath all the way in, and all the way out.  Breath so that your stomach moves and your chest stays still.  Your shoulders don’t need to go up and down.  Don’t over do it – keep it slow and easy.

Find ways to remind yourself to relax and breath properly.  Can you exchange secret signals with a friend?  Or remember every time you see a certain object?  Try to keep it on your mind this week, and practise keeping the fresh air in your lungs at a comfortable pace.  It might be a habit that sticks with you.

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!