I have the flu. Or fever and congestion…whatever name it has. I have it. On this 3rd day of this flu, I am coughing for sure. Nose clogged as well. However, I am resting and am quite calm. When it’s really unpleasant a little Tylenol helps. Please be certain, it’s not how I’d choose to spend my vacation, but with a bit of bad comes a little good.
Come next Monday in the office, I’d like to maintain this calmness. An idea came to me about deep breathing and how I’d like to make this a practice in the morning before doing anything…100 thoughtful breaths. Something like that. I figured why not start now while laying in bed. Can’t sleep anyway.
I started deep breathing. Trying to fill the lungs, then exhale as much as I could, gently. Lungs rattled, nose wined, and desire to cough was strong. I wondered if I could do 100 thoughtful breaths. The cough reflex went away after a few breaths. It also seemed better to go slow so I didn’t pass out. Around…I don’t know…maybe 50 breaths a nostril opened up. I just kept going. It turned out to be quite interesting. I started feeling a little better. At one point the cough reflex got me, but it was dry as if the fluid in my lungs was drier. It was no longer a “productive cough”.
After a bit I felt good enough to get up. I was a bit dizzy, but thought I’d do some deep breathing with the chest erect and do more deep breathing. As I was doing this, I actually got energized and was feeling pretty good. Both nostrils cleared. Definitely positive…however, there was an even better side benefit.
Ever heard this saying or something like it, “Take a deep breath and raise your chest”? It is possible to take a deep breath humped over, but it definitely feels more natural to take a deep breath standing erect. In any case, the chest lifts itself. As I thought about it a bit more, I suspect that deep breathing correlates not only with calmness but with erectness and good posture. It’s a hypothesis I will test. Granted my results are quantitative, but whatever works for you, right?
So far, deep breathing, all positive.