Pause for a moment, take a deep breath, the kind where your tummy expands just a little and hold it for 5 seconds. Now exhale for 5 seconds. Do it right now. What are you thinking about? Did you really pause or were you in too much of a hurry to continue reading?  Did you say to yourself, I’ll read to the end and then do it? Are you really that busy? Or are you like most that just read and continue to move on without taking action? Will you really stop ‘sometime’ later today to make time for a breathing exercise?

Pausing for a moment and consciously taking a few deep breaths has been shown to calm the nervous system, release tension and increase focus. Taking deep breathes also helps to alleviate stress.

Taking time to breathe deeply can transform your life. It’s one of those activities that provide a huge return on a small investment.

Make today the day you commit to pausing to breathe. It doesn’t take very long, just a few minutes throughout the day, and hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.