Just Breath

Generally some good advice!

I had a friend tell a story of how he and a friend had decided to begin a swimming program as a way to work out. His friend was a pretty good swimmer and was able to swim quite a bit furhter than my friend. The two had a conversation about swimming and why my friend was struggling a little. The advice he was given was "Just Breath". Come to find out my friend was not breathing as he was swimming or at least not taking enough breaths in order to give his body what it needed to swim strong, hard and long.

As I listened to that story I wrote the words down on a sheet of paper, Just Breath!

I liked that advice and have used it and will use it in my own personal life and as I try to help others who might be in the middle of the pool trying to swim to the other side without drowning. As I think about it, the pool for one person might be financial, the pool for another might be emotional, and yet another might be spiritual. No matter what the pool is, I believe and have learned that if we will Just Breath, we can be in a better frame of mind to try and get out of the situation alive and well. I am not necessarily referring to life threatening situations but just about any situation.

The physiological benefits of breathing are quite obvious. If we do not breath, we will die, plan and simple. I am not a psychologist and don't really claim to know much about it but I do have my opinions as to the psychological benefits to breathing, especially calm, even breaths. In times of difficulty or stress, being able to control your breathing will help your body relax, your mind relax and give you the ability to make better mental decisions and use your physical body in a much smoother and quicker motion.

I coach little league baseball and have a young man that is so tense when he stands in the batters box that I can see the white in his knuckles as he squeezes the bat. Each time he stand in the batters box I have him take a big breath and then let it out. This seems to help him relax a little and take a much better swing at the ball than when he is so tight his muscles can't react to the ball.

I see the same principle of just breathing helping in all kinds of situations that we might find ourselves in during our daily lives.

Anyway, this may not make sense to anyone else but for me, I learned a valuable lesson to Just Breath!