One of the most offensive phrases a person can utter to you when you’re anxious, stressed or generally overwhelmed is “relax.” It triggers and insults us all at once — while dripping with condescension.
Why, thank you, we immediately think. Why didn’t I think of that?
There should be a campaign to ban this suggestion altogether because commanding someone to relax has never worked. Only slightly better is the suggestion to breathe. But we’ll take it.
“Breathe.” It feels obvious, yet when we’re distraught and our bodies clench up, we sometimes forget the power of a deep, cleansing breath that sweeps out stale air and invites in new life. Breath work and similar forms of meditation have been proven to calm us, ground us and help regulate our emotions.
But we — Raj Punjabi-Johnson and Noah Michelson, co-hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — now know that mediation can do more than benefit our mental health. It can have unexpectedly positive effects on our bodies as well. On this week’s episode, we learned about those from Dr. Rashmi Bismark, a preventive care physician, author and meditation expert.
