Blog (01/06/2022)-Belly Breathing

5 minutes between you and an interview for your dream job. You’ve completely prepared for it, you’ve done the reading on the company and rehearsed all the interview questions, you’ve even practised the role play scenarios. As the time draws closer for you to be called, you are feeling confident about securing the job. 

Suddenly...

It feels like everything stops. Your mind shuts down and goes blank, your body feels like it has become paralysed, and it just won’t work for you. Your heart rate goes through the roof and then come the typical symptoms we all know about. The sweaty palms and armpits, the fear coursing through your body and your muscles becoming tense. 

Or the sensations we rarely hear about. The hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach and your throat constricting as if a snake is squeezing it tight, the tightening of the shoulder and neck muscles.

It happens when you least expect it, and it isn’t exactly known for its great timing either!

So, what can you do to give yourself the chance to gain back control of your body? How do we loosen that constricted throat or let the stomach settle from feeling hollow?

Give Belly breathing a go!

A link to a video on belly breathing is attached. (Demo video by me)

How to practise belly breathing

The test:

Take a deep breath and put one hand on your chest and another on your belly.

If you feel your chest rising, this won’t be as effective.

Placing a hand on your belly and watching and feeling as your hand rises from where you have rested it will allow you to breathe from your belly.

Step 1: Breathe deeply from your nose making sure you fill your lungs completely with air. 
Step 2: Hold the breath for a few seconds
Step 3: Breathe out. Important part: breathe out through your mouth, (purse your lips as if you’re blowing out of a straw)
Step 4: Release all the air from your lungs

Repeat this a few times. Sometimes it can take more than one attempt to feel any effect.

Belly breathing will help to calm the panic and sends a response to your nervous system to say, it’s okay you are feeling safe and ready!

The next time you are waiting in the interview room for that dream job or before going on that long-awaited date, try belly breathing and let me know how it went for you!