Box Breathing, Mindful Breathing Exercise
Mindfulness is a technique that involves bringing our attention to the present moment, without judgement; and we can do this by acknowledging the connection between our body and mind. The 'Box Breathing, Mindful Breathing Exercise' resource offers one example of mindful breathing; a technique is has been shown to be beneficial to our mental health and wellbeing.
What are the benefits of using this resource?
Rooted in Buddhism and Hinduism, mindfulness is more than the meditative state that it is often associated with. Mindfulness a technique that involves bringing our attention to the present moment, without judgement; and we can do this by acknowledging the connection between our body and mind. In others words, by taking notice and becoming aware of our physiological senses (what we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste) and connecting these with our psychological experiences (how these makes us feel emotionally). This could be the calmness that we feel when the wind blows against our cheek, or the contented feeling of the sunlight reflecting in a lake, or the state of peaceful reflection we feel when we close our eyes and feel our breath moving in and out of our chest.
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Mindfulness has been shown to help our mental health and wellbeing is a number of ways, including helping us to:
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become more self-aware
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feel calmer, less stressed and more focused
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be able to respond to difficulties, rather than reacting to them
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feel more in control of our thoughts and emotions
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cope with difficult experiences
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manage day to day life better
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be able to acknowledge our own self-worth and the worth of others
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manage pain
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improve sleep
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lower blood pressure
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reduce anxiety and depression
Its Good To Talk!!!
If you are struggling with your thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and/or difficult experiences, we recommend that you talk to one of the trusted people in your life, and seek professional help and support. Sharing our experiences can be empowering, as it can help us to take back control of our lives by allowing us to identify and manage our difficulties, and take positive and proactive steps to overcome these. However, we can sometimes find it hard to talk about our difficulties and how we feel; in such cases, writing these down can feel easier and less painful and can serve as a great method of communicating when words are too difficult to speak. If you are struggling to talk, we encourage you to use written word or this resource to share what has happened to you and how you are feeling.