[Inhale —— Exhale]

Go ahead. You do it too. Take a nice deep breath. Come on…you know you want to.

[Inhale —— Exhale]

That’s it. Feels good, right?

Of course it does. You’re doing what comes naturally and easily with virtually no effort at all. Your body does this for you all day and all night automatically. Your brain keeps you alive and primed for peak performance via your breath.

Don’t believe me? Consider this.

When you’re sleeping, your brain provides a smooth, deep rhythm coaxing you to sleep and keeping you there in sweet slumber.

When you’re physically active and exerting a lot of effort, your brain kicks things up a notch or two and gets you breathing faster and deeper because your body needs the extra oxygen to help repair your muscles and fuel your vascular system with super rich blood.

When you’re frightened, scared, or surprised your brain triggers a quick, abrupt inhale quite unlike your normal or fatigued breathing. This quick inhale is critical to raising your alertness and awareness so your eyes get bigger and your senses become more acute.

And when you find yourself relieved from your fright, you let out a long, slow exhale. And that is because your brain now knows that all is well, and you will soon find yourself back in your normal, natural breathing rhythm.

The fascinating thing is you never have to tell your brain how to breathe. It just does it for you. It puts you in the best possible position to handle the task at hand. And it does it with the breath.

Now what if you could do that yourself? Put yourself in the best possible position for the task at hand. That would be pretty amazing, right?

All we have to do is pay attention to what our body does naturally and automatically. And then intentionally do that ourselves.

Imagine if you could control your thoughts, your emotions, and your behaviors just through controlling your breath. It’s not impossible, but it does require two prerequisite skills to be effective: self-awareness and self-management.

Today’s shortcut won’t go down that path, but I will offer this…

Periodically, throughout the day, (maybe it’s when you go to the bathroom, or yawn, or get uncomfortable in your chair) take a pause and check your breathing, your state of mind, and your environment. Doing this will get you in the habit of becoming self-aware and more present in the moment.

Once you become more proficient at pausing and perspective taking, you’ll be ready to implement your breathing remedy for each specific situation.

For instance, if you find yourself deep in your task and your breath is shallow (maybe almost nonexistent), enjoy a glass Water.

If you find yourself stressing out or freaking out, break out a bottle of Whiskey.

And if you find your energy is depleted and you need to be more alert and focused, pour yourself a shot of Espresso.

Right now, you’re probably saying, “Um, Mr. Shortcut man, what are you talking about? I’m at work. I can’t be drinking booze on the clock. And I don’t have a fancy espresso machine either. What gives?”

Allow me to explain.

There are three breathing shortcuts we’ll explore today – Water Breathing, Whiskey Breathing, and Espresso Breathing.

Let’s first look at Water Breathing, since this one will likely be your most common breathing remedy. Water Breathing is a simple technique that will get you back in flow with your day. It is ideally the type of breathing you’ll want to do all day every day. It will help you feel in flow and able to adapt to any situation or condition.

So, what does it look like? Or more appropriately, what does it sound like?

Water Breath is a simple 4/4 breathing practice. You take a four-second inhale and a four-second exhale through the nose each way. And you do this at least 3 times or until you find yourself feeling aware and present in the moment.

Let’s practice together.

Inhale…2…3…4

Exhale…2…3…4

Do this two more times or until you feel more aware and present in the moment.

If you’d like to enhance the experience and improve the outcome of this Water Breathing, ask yourself these questions with each successive inhale.

1. What am I noticing or sensing in my body right now?
2. What emotions am I feeling right now?
3. What is the most important thing for me to focus on right now?

That is Water Breathing. Now, on to Whiskey Breathing.

Much like having a cocktail or mixed drink, Whiskey Breath is designed to give you a greater sense of calm and relaxation. You can use this when you are feeling stressed at work, anxious about the future, or any time your environment or the people in it (that includes yourself) are presenting a bit too much negative stimulus.

And it looks and sounds like this.

It is a 4/8 count, meaning that we will inhale for four seconds and exhale for eight. Again, breathe through your nose on the inhale and on the exhale.

Let’s do this together.

Inhale…2…3…4.

Exhale…2…3…4…5…6…7…8

Do this two more times or as many as you need until you find your calm. As you may have surmised, this breathing exercise can be used as an excellent sleep aid. Try it out tonight and see if it helps you get to sleep faster.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you probably have your ups and downs during the day. And sometimes those downs come in the form of feeling lethargic, uninspired, bored, or we just need a pick-me-up to regain our alertness and focus. For those times, you need to engage in Espresso Breathing.

This technique is very different from the previous two practices. This one involves much shorter and more forceful breaths. Whereas the Water and Whiskey are focused on slower, smoother inhales and exhales, Espresso Breathing is more staccato in its performance.

The cadence is 3/1/1 and it sounds like three short snorts in through the nose, a one-second hold, and then a quick one-second exhale through the mouth.

Because of the nature of this technique, you might feel some tingles in your fingertips and just a tiny bit lightheaded, so use a bit of caution when employing this breathing practice. (Maybe try it sitting down.) You’re not going to hurt yourself, but understand you might encounter some new sensations.

Alright, now that you’re in a safe and comfortable place, let’s share a shot of Espresso Breathing.

Sniff, sniff, sniff! Hold. Quick exhale.

Sniff, sniff, sniff! Hold. Quick exhale.

Sniff, sniff, sniff! Hold. Quick exhale.

In just these three rounds you should be feeling more exhilarated already. If you aren’t quite there yet, go a couple more rounds.

The idea behind this more substantial inhale and brief exhale is that you want to draw in oxygen more quickly to bring alertness. While the Water and Whiskey breathing practices involve a longer, slower exhale to maximize the carbon dioxide effect which improves heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, and oxygen absorption.

This is not to say that Espresso Breathing will negate these CO2 effects, but understanding the science behind the breathing might help you devise your own breathing techniques to suit your needs. Essentially, if you want to relax, have a longer, slower exhale. If you want to become more alert, have a stronger longer inhale and a shorter exhale.

The longer you inhale the more alert you become. The longer you exhale the more relaxed you become.

So, how will you determine when to take pauses during your day? How will you gather your perspective of senses, emotions, and desired focal point? And how will you determine when you need to enjoy a glass of Water, sip a glencairn of Whiskey, or pull a double-shot of Espresso?

I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but we’ve just unlocked the shortcut to improved well-being, emotional intelligence, and decision-making all with the use of just one tool – our breath. Work and life just got a lot more tolerable, if not enjoyable, and we didn’t spend a dime. Not only that, we’ve also learned that we have an unlimited, indispensable, ever-present tool right inside of us.

Anytime, anywhere we can rely on the breath to bring us back to peak performance.