This “Mental Health Series” is going to highlight how I have worked to improve my mental health (especially as it pertains to struggles with my physical health). Strength and conditioning coaches love to talk about “work/life balance” and “taking care of our mental health”. But I’ve never actually heard anyone share information on how to improve these aspects of health other than “get a therapist” or “go and train”. Again, this is the purpose of this “Mental Health Series” – to show others ways how I have addressed my mental health (with strategies other than just physically exhausting myself). I am NOT a therapist and am not qualified to actually help you – I am simply using this space to share some strategies that have helped me (none of which may help you or all of which may help you). In this Series, the four strategies I will touch on are: Physical Exercise, Having Creative Outlets, Breathing Techniques and Meditation, and Talking with Others.

Part 1 of this series addressed Physical Exercise (HERE), and Part 2 addressed Having Creative Outlets (HERE). If you have not read either of those they are a good place to start. Part 3 will now focus on: Breathing Techniques and Meditation.

Breathing Techniques

I have been trying various breathing techniques with the ultimate purpose to find ones that 1) help me control my breathing better and/or 2) help me relax. The three listed below have helped me the most thus far:

1. Controlled Breathing Practice – For me this is forcing myself to feel a bit uncomfortable while staying in control. I am actively trying to “practice” breath control with this technique. Inhale normal, exhale almost all your air out, then hold that “empty” feeling (it helps if you plug your nose with your fingers) for 2-8 seconds. Repeat this process for 5-10 minutes. I started really slowly and did holds at the end of the exhale for 3 seconds. As I got more comfortable and my control improved, I worked up to 8 second holds at the bottom. I felt this technique really helped me when I would go run, as I was able to stay in control of myself and my breathing without panicking as the running got harder and the breathing more difficult.
2. Box Breathing – This is an in-between of “practice” and “relaxation” for me. There are a number of variations for this, but the easiest way is to envision drawing a “box” with your breaths (the four sides of the box being Inhale – Pause – Exhale – Pause). For me, I use “bigger” boxes (5-6 seconds each on the inhale – pause – exhale – pause) for “practice” and “smaller” boxes (2-4 seconds each) for “relaxation”. I have done this sitting, standing, and laying down and have found 5-10 minutes to be a sweet spot for the time.
3. Deep Relaxation – I use this before bed most nights, and I typically lay on my stomach for this one. The goal here (as the name depicts) is pure relaxation – I am trying to get into a nice calm headspace before I sleep. As I inhale I will tell myself the number of that breath. Get to the top of the breath and tell yourself “Pause”. As you exhale SLOWLY tell yourself “Relax”. When you get to the bottom of the exhale, again tell yourself “Pause”. The goal is to count from 1 to 10 (you can also count back down from 10 to 1 if you want to relax further). I will also use this technique if I feel overly anxious in a given situation. Obviously there are circumstances that don’t allow me to lay down, but I can still do the counting and tell myself to relax before I address the anxiety of a situation appropriately.

Meditation

I have actually found a lot of peace in meditating. I always used to scoff at it, but being open-minded to it has really helped me improve my ability to be present, my mental clarity, and my ability to relax. I have found two techniques to be the most helpful thus far:

1. Mindfulness – Mindfulness has become a bit of a buzzword, and because of it seems to have a bad reputation to some (myself included originally). However, as I have come to understand the real meaning of mindfulness (essentially practicing being in the present moment, without judgment) it has really taken off for me. You can find a large amount of free mindfulness practices on YouTube, or you can simply practice yourself. My advice would be to be open-minded and give it an honest try. It may seem stupid or foolish, but it really has helped me to be more present.
2. Somatic Tracking – This is a specific form of mindfulness that I got from the book The Way Out (more articles on that soon!). This one took me quite a bit of practice to get used to, but the benefits have been profound. I will have an article that dives in further, but essentially I use it when I am feeling certain physical symptoms. The goal is to co-exist in the present moment with those uncomfortable feelings, and to teach your brain that although they are present (and real), they are not dangerous. It takes some practice (as do all these techniques) to really nail it down, but once I did I started to really notice the benefits. I wasn’t having the strange physical sensations as much, and even when I did, I was able to better tolerate them because I knew they weren’t actually dangerous.

Although I have certainly had my fair share of rough moments throughout my mental and physical health struggles (and certainly there will be more), I am grateful for the new things I have learned (and will continue to learn). This process has taught me that it is okay to not take myself so seriously sometimes, and that I can take time to be creative, not be so judgmental of myself, and really experience and enjoy life. I believe both breathing and meditation have played a major role in this process for me.

I try to end these articles with some brief bullet points. That way, even if you are to take nothing else away from this article, you can at least have a few highlights. Below are my key takeaways for you from this article:

-Be open-minded and non-judgmental of these techniques. They may seem foolish, but they have helped me a lot and may just help you if you give them a chance.

-As with most good skills that you develop in life these breathing and meditation techniques require practice. Don’t expect to get it right the first time. Use practices guided by others to help you get a sense of what works or doesn’t work for you.

-Start slow and gradually build yourself up. It can be hard or uncomfortable to get yourself to focus on the current moment that you are in. Eventually you will see the benefits and may even look forward to the quiet time of meditating and/or controlled breathing.