Breathe...
- William Graham
- Dec 6
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 7
Our lives are extremely complicated and those who sell you a solution to fix a lot of problems should be avoided. General Olmstead once said, 'The greatest leaders should be educated broadly." Meaning, we should try to be educated broadly and find out sources that are not narrow minded. We all would feel better if what we knew was enough, but it is not. We must get out of our comfort zone and be told we are wrong, probably a few times. This will hurt and should hurt, it means you care. But then the adjustment must be made. The same is true when it comes to trying to pursue a goal or some version of "thriving" in our lives, which will have different definitions for each person. No version of "thriving" comes from a place without sacrifice.
One of these instances for me was in 2021 in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was working out in a hotel and began to have the weirdest feelings and wasn't able to finish. Fast forwards months later and I was diagnosed with anxiety by a doctor. He suggested meds to help me get on the right path, to find a balance again. Which is fine, I think some individuals would benefit from that but I knew I had so many other things I could control to fix first like diet and exercise. One of these things was I learned breath work.
I had no idea this was important but the more I committed, the more I fell in love and needed time to breathe. Doing a breathe work session is not like taking medicine. Doing consistent breath work in the fight against anxiety is like beginning a 10 mile walk. It feels like you are so far away from a solution but you must begin or you will never get there. And the more you walk, the closer you get.
4 years later I am in a much better spot but still deal with anxiety moments and my breath work routines keep me in the middle (along with consistent exercise and a healthy diet).
This quick presentation below is not meant to solve your problems but help you to begin to ask better questions about how to fight the sympathetic stress epidemic that is plaguing our country. Between caffeine and social media addiction, young people are fighting to stay in the present and cannot. Hopefully this presentation gives you a quick insight into how breathing can be a super simple exercise to add today for anyone.
The Case for Breathing Post Exercise:
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Will Graham, CSCS
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