Telling people that breathing better can be the answer to many of their performance problems isn’t that sexy, but it’s also reality.

Try to pay attention to what you’re doing right now. Is the chest rising and falling? Is the belly moving?

Chest breathing is an inefficient way of taking in oxygen, and that costs you over the course of the day. Less oxygen reaches the mitochondria, which then produce less energy. 

Fixing this by switching to belly breathing will result in better focus, energy, posture, while curbing stress levels. But it can be a struggle to figure out. You’re having to intentionally control something that has been running on autopilot for years, if not decades.

But here’s a quick way to get up and running.

Lie down on the floor and place a book on your stomach. 

As you inhale, push the book up towards the ceiling. 

On the inhale, let the book drop back down.

Repeat for as long as you like. You’ve even got a nice meditation session going on.