Breathing is an essential part of health and longevity, not to mention the obvious; we need it to live. The breathing homework is designed for you to take the time to be aware of your breathing throughout the day and take some mental notes.

Spend a day with the intention that you are going to check in with yourself and become self-aware of your breathing. If your need to remind yourself, maybe make notations around the house or in your car. I write things on my hand. This is an unconventional notepad, but it works.

Check-ins:

• Am I doing the following?
• Breathing deeply or shallowly
• Breathing through the tops of shoulders, my chest, or my abdomen
• Am I holding my breath
• If I am holding my breath, when and why am I holding my breath
• Am I sighing or yawning frequently

What did you notice about your breathing today? Try to do this a couple of times a week. Daily is even better. Pretty soon, you will have retrained yourself to become more self-aware and you will be breathing properly without having to think about it!

You would be amazed at how differently you will be feeling when you make a point to breathe deeply. We often breathe shallowly through our chest and forget to breathe through our abdomens. You don’t need to hyperventilate, just make sure you are breathing. Taking a deep breath helps reduce stress and helps us remain grounded in ourselves.