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Don’t Forget to Exhale
How much of your life do you spend holding your breath?
When my oldest (now non-binary) kid was a baby, they would get upset about something, hold their breath, and pass out. They didn’t do it on purpose, taking one big breath in and sitting there with puffed-out cheeks, looking at me accusingly. Instead, they would just keep inhaling more and more with each sob, and with no more room in the lungs, they would simply go unconscious. It was like they forgot how to breathe out. My husband and his father apparently did this as babies too. The family advice? “Blow in their face and startle them!”
As adults, I think we sometimes forget to exhale too. Sometimes when we’re in a period of anticipation (positive or negative), we have a tendency to hold our breath — to prepare for what’s coming. Instead, we can use mindfulness meditation to call ourselves to the present moment by focusing on the breath and noticing how it feels to inhale and exhale. By remembering to exhale, we invite a sense of release or relief when we let go of the breath and let go of the tension we’ve been holding.
I’m a licensed mental health counselor who enjoys sharing mindful meditations and information about mindfulness. Below is a transcript of a meditation I led on this topic, and at the end of the article, you’ll find a link to the meditation video. Let’s practice exhaling.