Calm your mind and body

A HSP friend shared with me a tool she's finding useful to help her quickly calm/ground.

If you are pushed for time, perhaps would you try this too?

With one hand on the middle of your chest, breathe in for 2 and out for 4.

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Does it matter if your exhale is longer than your inhale?

Great question! Yes, it does. An overwhelmed mind and body can find calm by using a simple timed breathing technique. A longer exhale activates the vagus nerve (running from the neck down through the diaphragm) to send a signal to your brain to turn up your parasympathetic nervous system and turn down your sympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic command your fight or flight response, and when they fire, your heart rate and your breathing speed up, and stress hormones like cortisol start pumping through your bloodstream, preparing your body to face a threat. If the threat is, “A lion is chasing me and I need to run away,” this is helpful. If the threat is, “I am late to work” or, “I’m so upset with my mom,” this is not particularly helpful, and in fact it can be damaging – when cortisol is elevated for too long or too frequently it disturbs all the hormonal systems of the body.

The parasympathetics, on the other hand, control your rest, relax, and digest response. When the parasympathetic system is dominant, your breathing slows, your heart rate drops, your blood pressure lowers as the blood vessels relax, and your body is put into a state of calm and healing.

Putting your body in a parasympathetic state is easy. Pick a count for your inhale and a count for your exhale that is a little longer. I like starting with 2 counts in, and 4 counts out, with a one count pause at the top of the inhale and a one count pause at the bottom of the exhale.

https://www.corefolsom.com/simple-breathing-exercise-calm-mind-body/