There are basic underlying needs in our health. Without these, our health and well-being suffers. In fact, unless these underlying needs are adequately met, it will be an uphill battle to get well and stay well.


What I consider the top three basic needs are:
1.) Breathing
2.) Sleep
3.) Clean and adequate water


These seem so simple, and at first glance, most of us would say those are taken care of in our lives, but I ask everyone to look a bit closer.

Breathing. Do we take deep breaths? Do we have clean air? Think about how you are breathing now. How deeply does it go? Does your chest expand? Do you breath shallowly? Even in your sleep? When we are tense, our breathing becomes tense as well. When you say you can hear stress in someone’s voice, it often stems from their lack of deeper breathing. Breathing is an important aspect of staying grounded and calm when stress begins to creep up.

We can train ourselves to optimize the benefits of breathing. We do it with athletic training, yoga and meditation. It is often used in acupuncture.

Here is an exercise that is easy and quick and can have some deep long term benefits along with short-term ones. Find a quiet place. Sit with your back straight and both feet on the floor if you are in a chair. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. Feel your chest expand. Hold the breath for a count of 2 or 3 and then slowly exhale through your mouth. Do this three times in a row. You can feel the stress melt away. Try to do this 3 times daily. As you make this more of a routine, the benefits of the stress release last longer.

Put a little reminder on your desk at work. Put a reminder on the computer or TV at home. Put a reminder next to your bed. This is an easy, inexpensive and low time impact exercise. Give it a try.

Remember that Inspiration means to ‘breath in’. Let’s all be inspired.