Show notes
Dissolve Stress With This Simple Calm Breathing Technique.
Learn to apply the diaphragmatic based Calm Breathing Technique to let go of stress and create a renewing Relaxation Response for mind and body.
Important Note: Please do not listen to this episode while driving or doing other activities requiring your full attention. Always consult a licensed medical doctor or other appropriate medical professional for any issue of concern.
By listening to this or any other episode of “Mind Over Stress, you agree to take full, complete, and sole responsibility for your own wellbeing.
To Begin:
Spend about 30 seconds noticing your breathing. Just notice it. Get a sense of the frequency and intensity of your breathing.
Next, recall a recent experience when you felt stress. Bring to mind the memory of that experience and recall the location, any people present, and the circumstances contributing to the stressful situation. Stay with that memory for about 20 to 30 seconds and then notice your breathing again.
Compare your post stress memory breathing with the first baseline breathing pattern. What are the differences? Was the baseline breath slower? Were you breathing more rapidly after reliving the stress situation in the theater of your mind?
Your Mind - Body Connection:
This simple exercise illustrates how connected breathing is with what you see, hear, and experience in the physical world and when you replay stress inducing memories. Your physiology responds to the images, thoughts, and feelings created by brain activity.
But what isn’t widely known is the opposite is also true: images, thoughts, and feelings respond to conscious breathing. You can change your mind by changing your breathing pattern.
For many clients a stress dissolving method called Calm Breathing Technique, or CBT, has become their go to method for rapid stress relief. By the way, for the therapists reading this post I suggest encouraging your clients to incorporate this breath-based CBT method with the psychological treatment method called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (also called CBT) and other talk and Energy Psychology treatment approaches.
3 Stages of Breath-Based CBT
The three stages of breath-based CBT include:
* Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe;
* Two Mind Directing Words;
* Vagus Nerve Sound Stimulation.
Stage two builds on stage one and stage three builds on stage two. Many clients who said they had problems applying traditional meditation methods find this breath-based CBT method easy, effective, and enjoyable. It’s a method they stick with and experience deepening benefits from ongoing practice.
How You Benefit by Listening to This Episode:
In this episode you’ll learn how to apply Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe, the foundation practice of the breath-based CBT method. This practice alone will typically lower or eliminate what’s called the Stress Response and encourage what’s called the Relaxation Response, which creates a calmer state of mind and body. I’ll share guidance on how to apply stage two and three in a future post. If you would like to receive the full breath-based CBT guide, email me at [email protected] and simply enter, “CBT Guide” in the subject line.
Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe:
To begin, let’s identify a baseline level of stress. We’ll use the Subject Units of Distress, or SUDs scale for this initial assessment.
Close your eyes and ask out loud or in mind, “How stressed am I right now on a zero to 10 scale?”.
Zero equals no stress and 10 represents the maximum stress level you can imagine. If using the SUDs scale doesn’t feel comfortable, simply assess your starting stress level on a low, medium, or high scale.
Here are the...
Learn to apply the diaphragmatic based Calm Breathing Technique to let go of stress and create a renewing Relaxation Response for mind and body.
Important Note: Please do not listen to this episode while driving or doing other activities requiring your full attention. Always consult a licensed medical doctor or other appropriate medical professional for any issue of concern.
By listening to this or any other episode of “Mind Over Stress, you agree to take full, complete, and sole responsibility for your own wellbeing.
To Begin:
Spend about 30 seconds noticing your breathing. Just notice it. Get a sense of the frequency and intensity of your breathing.
Next, recall a recent experience when you felt stress. Bring to mind the memory of that experience and recall the location, any people present, and the circumstances contributing to the stressful situation. Stay with that memory for about 20 to 30 seconds and then notice your breathing again.
Compare your post stress memory breathing with the first baseline breathing pattern. What are the differences? Was the baseline breath slower? Were you breathing more rapidly after reliving the stress situation in the theater of your mind?
Your Mind - Body Connection:
This simple exercise illustrates how connected breathing is with what you see, hear, and experience in the physical world and when you replay stress inducing memories. Your physiology responds to the images, thoughts, and feelings created by brain activity.
But what isn’t widely known is the opposite is also true: images, thoughts, and feelings respond to conscious breathing. You can change your mind by changing your breathing pattern.
For many clients a stress dissolving method called Calm Breathing Technique, or CBT, has become their go to method for rapid stress relief. By the way, for the therapists reading this post I suggest encouraging your clients to incorporate this breath-based CBT method with the psychological treatment method called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (also called CBT) and other talk and Energy Psychology treatment approaches.
3 Stages of Breath-Based CBT
The three stages of breath-based CBT include:
* Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe;
* Two Mind Directing Words;
* Vagus Nerve Sound Stimulation.
Stage two builds on stage one and stage three builds on stage two. Many clients who said they had problems applying traditional meditation methods find this breath-based CBT method easy, effective, and enjoyable. It’s a method they stick with and experience deepening benefits from ongoing practice.
How You Benefit by Listening to This Episode:
In this episode you’ll learn how to apply Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe, the foundation practice of the breath-based CBT method. This practice alone will typically lower or eliminate what’s called the Stress Response and encourage what’s called the Relaxation Response, which creates a calmer state of mind and body. I’ll share guidance on how to apply stage two and three in a future post. If you would like to receive the full breath-based CBT guide, email me at [email protected] and simply enter, “CBT Guide” in the subject line.
Diaphragmatic Touch and Breathe:
To begin, let’s identify a baseline level of stress. We’ll use the Subject Units of Distress, or SUDs scale for this initial assessment.
Close your eyes and ask out loud or in mind, “How stressed am I right now on a zero to 10 scale?”.
Zero equals no stress and 10 represents the maximum stress level you can imagine. If using the SUDs scale doesn’t feel comfortable, simply assess your starting stress level on a low, medium, or high scale.
Here are the...
