Why Breathing is Important for Leadership

I can honestly say that most obstacles and problems in the office are due to miscommunication or a breakdown in communication. Perhaps someone is passive aggressive, territorial, way too type-A, controlling, reactive... the list goes on. You most definitely know someone with any of those traits listed above.

I'm a yoga teacher and a communication coach and one of the simplest tools that I give my clients and my students is the art of breath to relax the nervous system so that reacting becomes a habit of the past.

This tool takes time to build and nurture. In fact, it's never an overnight success, but it works miracles when you least expect.

Breathing is a tool that is a leadership must-have!

• If you're not breathing before you present, your nerves can get to you.
• If you don't take deep breaths before you respond to an email that agitates you, you may regret your words.
• If you don't breathe before you respond to someone who just put you down, tried to throw you under the bus, or made you feel small in a meeting, you may show up in a lackluster way.

A simple practice can look like this:

***Inhale through the nose and let your belly expand. Feel the breath travel all the way up the diaphragm into the lungs, almost as if it flows through the crown of your head.

***Pause and retain the breath for 3 seconds.

***On the exhale, close the mouth and breathe out of the nose, dropping the shoulders, opening the collarbone and relaxing the face.

Ensure the exhale is longer than the inhale for a full effect and repeat that 7X.

Tell me how you feel thereafter. Tell me how many reactions you saved because you breathed when someone was out of line or petty.

The office space is not for the light hearted, and many a case, it can really change hard working ethical people into reactive, non-breathing children. Don't let reactivity happen to you.

Coaching is a gift to many offices and so is meditation and I offer both as a workshop so that conflict/resolution is a tool that's constantly used instead of being stared at as the elephant in the room when tension is cut like a knife.

When in doubt, breathe. You can thank me later.

For more information on getting your office into a healthier zone, click here.

Elizabeth Barry is an Executive Communication Coach, Keynote Speaker and Workshop Host that focuses on emotional intelligence, public speaking, confidence, mindfulness and leadership. She has written six books that continue to change people’s lives and is interested in speaking and coaching at offices nationwide to teach adults the art of calm through the way that they speak and feel.

Click here to set up a conversation, or learn more at www.thekindcommunicator.com