This week's FriendlyBrain Tip comes to you from Richard Nugent of Kaizen Training.

Solutions focussed action planning, anchoring, timelines, future pacing, flow states, instant confidence, maps of the world, law of attraction, and the impact of language.

These are just some of the tools that I’ve explored with one of my long-term clients.  He has experienced some of the most powerful techniques out there.  Yet when I ask him what the most important thing he has learned from me during our coaching relationships is, the answer is always the same.  “You taught me how to breathe.”

Now once I’ve got over the initial disappointment (my ego takes a little knock that it’s not one of the complex personal change interventions I created just for him!) I realise just how powerful this very simple technique is.

It has helped him to perform better at key times, to relax and enjoy the time he has with his family.  It’s helped him to become more focussed and consistent both technically and in his relationships.  Most importantly to him, this technique has helped him to sleep better.

Now any technique that helps you do all of those things and only takes a few minutes has to be worth learning!

In fact various research has pointed to the fact that breathing techniques can help reduce pain and blood pressure, increase fitness, is good for the heart, helps with hot flashes, the digestive system and of course the brain

So here’s the technique…

1. Breathe in for your own count of eight
2. Hold the breath in for your own count of eight
3. Breathe out for your own count of eight.  Make sure you breathe all of the air out; you might need to ‘push’ it out.
4. Hold, with no air in for your own count of four
5. Repeat steps 1 – 4 twice more.

It’s very simple and very powerful.

The secret (of course) is to use the technique habitually as part of a mental rehearsal, meditation or other relaxation process.  In fact, I recently saw a speaker suggest that the most powerful thing any individual can do in the process of getting whatever they want is to visualise (or mentally rehearse) for five minutes every day.  This breathing technique is the perfect way to start that process.

Other times it is useful to use this technique

q       Before a presentation.  It will relax you and help regulate your breathing to allow you to deliver the presentation more effectively and powerfully.

q       Whenever you feel overwhelmed.

q       Before you start a key task to help you focus and work more effectively.

q       Before you exercise.

q       To relax at the end of the day.

q       To prepare for a difficult discussion or meeting at home or work

q       Any other time it would be useful to be focussed and relaxed!

This week’s call to action…

Re-read this tip to embed how and why it’s useful to learn the technique.

Learn the technique!

For the next five days do the 8-8-8-4 breathing at least once a day and before every key meeting or presentation.