How to detox our stress riddled bodies—Spoiler Alert: you already have all the tools you need

The summer is coming to an end and the kids are about to head back to school.

Sometimes the summer months feel more chaotic than the months during the year since the kids are home and there’s less of a routine.

While it’s often termed summer vacation, sometimes it feels more stress inducing than a typical vacation.

As the heat hopefully subsides and the kids get ready to go back to school, it’s the perfect time to take stock of your stress levels.

How are you feeling? No, really, how are you really feeling?

When shit hits the fan, sometimes all we need to do and the vacation we really need, is within us.

I know, that can sound a bit hokey. But I remember a meditation teacher (meditation teachers always have that rosy happy glow about them. They’ve got to be doing something right) saying that she can’t always afford a vacation or maybe there’s no time for it. And that doesn’t matter because the best vacation is within her, breathing. With that hefty statement, she closed her eyes and went on a “vacation” right in front of the class.

We don’t have to be meditation teachers to calm our bodies and bring ease into the bustle of everyday life.

Noticing our breath and lengthening our inhales and exhales has the power to calm our nervous system. Regulating our breath has also been linked to healing trauma and increasing heart rate variability (a decreased heart rate variability is linked to trauma).

If nothing else, take a couple of minutes to pay attention to your breaths. Notice how you are breathing. Notice if you are holding your breath. Try to lengthen each inhale and exhale.

Who knew the tools for self care and peace were inside of us all along? All we needed to do was notice and use them.