Making decisions from a place of stress and anxiety is not recommended, so it is important to take a moment to breathe and make decisions from a calm place.
The developer of the “Take a Breath” method explains how to stop, breathe, and make decisions from a calm place.
In today’s fast-paced world, we rush to work, to school, to activities, constantly bombarded with stimuli, and we find ourselves collapsing into bed every evening only to wake up to the same day.
It is hard to find a moment of calm.
That is when we fall into the trap of decisions made on automatic pilot. Because honestly, who has time to stop, breathe, and make decisions calmly?
Have you ever heard the advice to brush your teeth with the other hand? Our brain wants to save energy and not work hard.
So it builds habits and fixed patterns. This is great when making your coffee or driving to work, but less useful when making important life decisions.
To break habits and let the brain think and work more, it is recommended to sometimes take new routes and brush with the other hand.
When we act on automatic, we are not truly engaged in the decision-making process.
On the contrary, we rely on past considerations and previous decisions that are not always the best choice for us.
This can lead to unnecessary stress and anxiety.
We may start worrying that we made the wrong decision or regret not taking enough time to decide.
All of these things can negatively affect our mental health.
Even in daily decisions, you may feel irritable and frustrated because the last thing you wanted was to find yourself playing Monopoly for three hours with the kids, when all you wanted was to tell them that Monopoly is not suitable right now and that you want to play with them later or in a shorter game.
How to stop, take a breath, and make decisions calmly?
Making decisions from a calm place allows us to consider all known factors at the time, leading to a more thoughtful decision.
It is a decision we feel good about, even if the outcome is less than expected.
Making decisions calmly allows choices that align with our values, helps us think outside the box, and find additional solutions and alternatives for every challenge.
How do we start? We take a breath.
The concept of “take a breath” includes activities that help us stop, breathe, and examine ourselves, our actions, and feelings.
Awareness
First, we need to understand that we are acting on autopilot, recognize when it happens, and what it makes us feel. Once you realize that you are acting but not fully, committing to things that don’t suit you, making decisions that don’t match your desires, you suddenly find yourself irritable, stressed, or anxious that is the moment of awareness. Here you understand it is time to take a breath.
Breathing
It sounds simple, but we don’t breathe properly.
We breathe shallowly. And it really works! Closing your eyes, taking a few slow and deep breaths, and focusing on your breath will help your body relax immediately, and stress will dissolve.
Advanced practitioners can imagine on the inhale that the body fills with positive energy, calm, and peace. On the exhale, imagine all the accumulated stress and tension being released.
Pause
Take a break for a few moments.
Go to the balcony and look at the view, take a short walk in nature, practice mindfulness or meditation, or engage in physical activity known to clear thoughts.
Do something that brings joy. When taking a breath, you reach a feeling of calm and clarity.
When calm, you can conclude that you need more time to make an important decision, that you want to consult someone, or “sleep on it.”
Most importantly, do not be angry at yourself for the decisions you make. Remember, mistakes are part of life.
We cannot do everything perfectly, and failures are the part that builds us and allows us to grow.
