Grabber – why this topic is important
The problem You’ve been working intensively and feel wired. You know you need to bring the RPM’s (Revs Per Minute) down, but when you stop work, your mind is still firing thoughts and impulses like bullets out of a gun. There’s a tension and alertness (a feeling of being pumped) in your body. It all makes it very hard to relax and switch off.
How this issue/ problem manifests and affects people – examples, stats
1. Trying to sleep in that state is pretty much doomed to failure – e.g. me arriving back late after driving 2.5hrs on motorway after a flight (could barely keep awake whilst driving, but sleep badly and feel rough the next day)
2. In that state of wiredness at home – adversely affects our ability to connect with our loved ones
3. Affects our ability to find off and to rejuvenate – e.g. leader – bottle of wine to relax, strong coffee to wake me up
How to tackle the issue/ problem – share our view on it, and the research to back it up
Option 1: Breathing in a controlled and deep way
It sounds (too) simple. And yes, it is simple to do, but counter-intuitive in the ‘wired’ moment.
The technique we are about to share is used by many professionals who need to calm themselves down physiologically, often in high-pressure situations, in order to make quality decisions and perform at their best.
It was part of the solution that helped the England national football team overcome its quarter-century jinx of losing penalty shootouts in major tournaments9. It’s also used by many special forces operatives who have to handle life-threatening situations such as getting lost in enemy territory.
The technique is called ‘Coherent breathing’.
It brings you out of a ‘fight or flight’ response into a state of ‘relaxed alertness’ where you are present in the moment but with a much wider perspective of the situation you are in. By contrast, when we are in a more stressed state of mind, we tend to focus far more narrowly, experiencing ‘tunnel vision’, losing our perspective.
Here’s what happens when we breathe more slowly and deeply:
Changing the rhythm of your breath can signal relaxation, slowing your heart rate and stimulating the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain stem to the abdomen, and is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body's "rest and digest" activities (in contrast to the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates many of our "fight or flight" responses). Triggering your parasympathetic nervous system helps you start to calm down. You feel better. And your ability to think rationally returns.
Research: HBR - Why Breathing Is So Effective at Reducing Stress - by Emma Seppala , Christina Bradley and Michael R. Goldstein - September 29, 2020
https://hbr.org/2020/09/research-why-breathing-is-so-effective-at-reducing-stress
How do I do the breathing?
A regular in-breath (normally around a count of five) and the same out-breath restores a state of ‘relaxed alertness’. If we just want to be ‘relaxed’, then a longer out-breath, say for a count of eight, leads us to a state of ‘rest and repose’. A key point: when you feel agitated, lengthen your exhales
You’ll need to do it for about ten minutes.
“In our study, the leaders who practiced for at least 10 minutes every day progressed significantly more than others who did not.”
Megan Reitz and Michael Chaskalson[1]
Experiment with it. Try it the next time you feel ‘wired’, overwhelmed or pumped, when you either need to compose yourself to make a sensible appraisal of the situation and decide on the best way forward, or you simply need to relax as part of transitioning into an out of work mode.
www.rechargeability.com
