To start off with, I’ve said “teeter-totter” numerous times in my life. But I had to have the assistance of Google, as I’ve never spelled it out and wasn’t sure on the hyphen situation. I could have gone with seesaw instead, but typing that first sentence allowed Google to get my business again. I do know how to spell slide, merry-go-round, and swing all on my own though.

Now to get get back on track…

We have many systems in the body that I like to think of as a teeter-totter. When one aspect is up, another aspect is down. Both kids on the playground can’t each be sitting on the ground on their respective ends of the totter. Our autonomic nervous system is that, we have 2 sides: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.

Sympathetic: fight or flight. Our ancestors saw that saber tooth tiger and their heart rate increased, blood pressure went high, adrenaline pumping, on edge. Perfect for punching Tony the Saber Tooth Tiger in the nose, but not so great with our typical day-to-day activities.

Parasympathetic: rest and digest. Cool, calm, collected. Still. Lower heart rate. Lower blood pressure. A vacation from work, sitting on some beach with an umbrella drink in hand. Perfect for being happy, and making it through our day with ease.

One of those 2 helps us calm down and relax. It’s obvious which one. But how do we get our teeter-totter in the best position? Stopping, pausing, breathing, relaxing, eating well, staying fit, and mindful practices like mediation and yoga. Basically focusing on our personal health, and being conscious about our efforts. Breathing is a perfect place to begin.

Since breathing is the place to start, then we should all be professionals at this since humans take 20,000 breaths per day. Right? Wrong.

We all breath, but most of us do it incorrectly. We spend so much time scrunched-up and stressed, breathing shallow through our mouths. This actually shifts us towards that revved-up sympathetic system. Breathing slowly, in through our nose, deep down into our belly, shifts us towards that relaxing parasympathetic system. There are multiple anatomical and medical explanations for why this works, but to try to keep this relatively simple: slow, nose, belly.

It’s not a coincidence that every mediation and yoga instructor says, “breath in slowly through your nose, deep down into your belly.” They know what they are talking about, so we should listen. Even if we all pause just a few times a day to be aware of our breath. There can be so much benefit in something so simple.