I love Dr. Weil's breathing exercises

[Celebration]

They are so easy, and not time consuming! There are three of them, but here is a video of him discussing the middle (and probably the most important) one. It takes about a minute and a half twice a day.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/VDR00105/Dr-Weil-Discusses-Breathing-Exercises.html

According to Weil, repetition of these twice a day will retrain your autonomic nervous system.

It helps deal with stress.

[Dawson Leery]

1. kick

[Happyhippychick]

2. Thank you. I would like to add one crucial thing, that you are breathing into your belly, not chest

Your belly should go in and out as you breathe.

Good link!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. kick

[Warpy]

4. That's a lot like Yoga breathing

and I'd teach my patients to do it when I had to do something nasty, like change dressings and irrigate wounds or insert catheters or cannulas. It works, especially with the catheters, that bladder sphincter softens right up and the tube slips in.

I know y'all are crossing your legs at this point, but I put that in because nurses read this board, too. Nasty stuff gets a lot easier if you can do something to reduce the anxiety associated with it. I do it when somebody's doing something necessary but nasty to me and it helps a lot.