Most of us take breathing for granted, but what I've learned from yoga and mindfulness is that breathing can be incredibly powerful!
When you're nervous, have you ever payed attention to where you feel it in your body? My shoulders start to lift up towards my ears and my breathing gets shallow, or I might even hold my breath.
What I've learned about breathing is that paired with mindfulness, just paying attention to what you're feeling non-judgmentally, will bring my shoulders down and help circulate oxygen to my brain which starts to calm me down.
I like to include breathing exercises in the classroom to help give the children the power to regulate their own bodies. We will be loading a bunch of great breathing exercises for kids, tried and true, over the next few days!
Happy breathing!