My elementary school used to have a yogi come in every Tuesday to teach us youngins the ropes of all the poses and breathing and whatnot. I remember one exercise distinctly: our breathing exercise. What were the instructions? Simply breathe in the good thoughts, and breathe out the bad.

Up until recently, I had forgotten completely about that memory. That was, until the crippling stress of high school forced me to learn new ways to cope with stress. Taking time to just breathe had never been something that came to mind, but honestly, I regret having not done it earlier, and I hope you’re able to come to the same conclusion.

The simple concept of breathing in the good, breathing out the bad is quite peaceful. Right after you read my instructions, I ask that you take a few seconds to try it out.

What I ask is that you:

1. Close your eyes

2. Think about your troubles

3. Take a deep breath in through your nose

4. Breath out through your mouth. While you do this, imagine all the bad thoughts are in that breath, and feel as they leave your body

5. Take another breath in. While you do this, imagine the reasons you have to be happy are in that breath, and feel as they enter your body

Ok, I know you probably didn’t feel as magical as I would have hoped, but don’t let that dissuade you from this practice! Being satisfied by just one breath isn’t going to work wonders, but just taking time to imagine some way to get rid of the bad thoughts is more than enough to keep from breaking down. I’ve personally had to take an entire minute of this exercise to calm down from a particularly upsetting situation. By the end, I felt like I could face my troubles better now that I wasn’t so overwhelmed.

Of course, breathing doesn’t solve all your problems, but it absolutely helps you calm down. Sometimes to deescalate a situation, you just have to take a step back and view your troubles in a less overwhelming perspective, which I feel breathing can assist in.

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