While I often write about management and stress, these coronavirus times are such unusual times that I thought I’d write something that has a little broader applicability, though it can be useful to managers too. Who regularly also face ample stress and anxiety.
My message is a simple one. Uncertainty breeds anxiety, and a pandemic by definition is a time of massive uncertainty. That's the bad news. The good news is, we do have the capability if not to eliminate anxiety at least to keep it in check. And one of the most time-tested and universally available resources to do that lies deep within all of us: our own breathing.
Taking Time to STOP
Meditation of course is the most widely known breathing-based mental exercise, also a core element of mindfulness (which I’ve often written about as a helpful management practice). But what I wanted to discuss here were two tactical applications of using breathing productively.
The first goes by the appropriate acronym of STOP, a well-known mindfulness technique developed by professor Jon Kabat-Zinn as part of his excellent Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training. The acronym stands for:
When you find yourself highly stressed or anxious, Stop what you're doing and press the "pause" button on your feelings. Take a deep breath (or two or three) to bring yourself into the present and really think about how you're acting. Observe carefully your feelings, your physical sensations, and the world around you. Then Proceed... presumably more calmly and thoughtfully.
The overall intent? To disrupt a behavioral pattern you may be lapsing into and change your emotional state. Simple enough, but (IMHO) surprisingly helpful. While it has many applications, and everyone may have his or her own favorite, I’ve personally found it most useful when “frustrated” by traffic or bad driving. Why am I acting like a lunatic when the net effect of a temporary traffic "issue" is to have me arrive at my destination about 30 seconds later than I would have without it?
Thinking inside the box
This second technique is a cousin of sorts to the first. A favorite of Navy SEAL and police department training, it's called box breathing, or square breathing. Basically, similar to the STOP method noted above, it's a disciplined way of making yourself slow down, focus, and regain emotional control.
What does it involve? Start with a slow inhale for four seconds, being very conscious of your stream of breath. Feel the air in your lungs and hold it there for a count of four. Then exhale slowly to the count of four, feeling air move out of your lungs. Then hold your breath for another slow, conscious four count. Repeat the process as many times as needed,
Everything is done to the four count; hence, the "square box" name. It can be done anywhere, sitting down, standing up, lying down. Wherever you are and feel comfortable. As Navy SEALs have learned, it's a means of corralling serious stress.
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These breathing techniques are of course no substitute for all the critically important things epidemiologists and government officials are telling us constantly these days about the value of "social distancing" and hand-washing and self-quarantining and "sheltering in place"... and taking whatever steps are needed to reduce social contacts to slow a lethal virus's spread. Tactical breathing is no substitute, it's a complement.
A nice aspect of both these methods, as I would have said as a kid growing up in the Boston area, is that they're wicked easy to learn and practice. Nothing complicated about them. But as I often say about management: Simplicity is a virtue, and small things can make a big difference. Effective use of your own breathing falls into this category. Small and simple but helpful. And in these uncertain Coronavirus times, helpful is good.
