Staying focused on our tasks can be a slippery slope of challenging experiences that can kill our motivation to get back to our work. For many, concentrating can be difficult, but even the best of us will also have moments of severe distractibility.
Being able to complete tasks when needed is a major concern for anyone; how we complete our work, home chores, run errands, and even enjoy our hobbies can be severely affected by our ability to stay focused.
In today’s blog, we’ll dive into our relationship with focus and motivation and what we can do to recapture our concentration. If you’re struggling with your motivation or focus and are interested in how breathing techniques can help, this might be the blog for you!
Read on!
Breathing & The Brain
How we breathe can severely impact how our brains and bodies function. One of the key ways this manifests is through the level of noradrenaline in our systems.
Noradrenaline is a vital neurotransmitter intimately associated with how we think and maintain our attention. When we’re engaged and invested in a task, noradrenaline is released in the brain to reinforce our focus, helping ensure we learn and engage with our stimuli as much as possible.
How we breathe can be hugely influential in how the body makes and releases noradrenaline in the body. An uneven breathing rhythm can disrupt our ability to maintain focus as our noradrenaline levels become affected and destabilized.
Rhythmic Breathing for Focus
One of the best ways to help instill some needed focus in our lives is to ensure that our breathing is even and rhythmic.
Our Balance exercise is ideally suited to this requirement, enabling the practitioner to achieve an even breathing rhythm of six breaths per minute, a ratio often considered ideal for optimal health.
The technique is as follows:
- Inhale through the nose for five (5) seconds
- Now exhale through the nose for an additional five (5) seconds
- Repeat this process for ten (10) rounds or two (2) minutes.
We recommend you go a little further than above and use the technique for three minutes or more. However, if you’re just starting or are limited in your breathing ability, it may be better to start with a lower practice time like the above.
Breathing at a rate of six breaths per minute has been shown to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety while increasing attention and focus. If you suffer from symptoms of insomnia, then this may be doubly useful as this breathing rhythm has also been shown to help improve sleeping patterns.
For more information regarding how to manage your breathing for a more effective lifestyle, visit our other blogs ,here at ,The Exhale to get the latest tips and tricks. For free guided breathing exercises that you can take anywhere, try out the Breathwrk app ,here and enjoy a FREE 7-day trial with access to ,everything we have to offer!
And remember: Breathe Better, Live Better.
Ciao!
