I was drowning in anxiety.
I was shocked when I discovered I had a breathing problem, and equally surprised when I learned just how simple the solution was.
I never thought about breathing. Do you?
Before we created Komuso Design and the Shift, I was unaware that I had forgotten how to breathe. I was drowning in anxiety.
It was every night, lying there in bed. It was so hard to get to the end of the day, and just want to get to sleep because I wanted the day to end.
You want to be strong. You want to be strong for yourself and everyone around you, but it’s just an internal battle I kept having at the end of each day.
In the morning I would wake up, I would take that first breath and feel that everything was ok. And then reality would hit, and I would realize the thoughts I went to bed thinking are still there, the anxiety is still there. And it’s not going to go away.
Anxiety was stealing from me without me even noticing.
It was robbing me of my moment.
The soft sounds of morning as my family would wake up, the excitement that would build as dinner and conversation hit the table, the slowing breath of my family as they would fall asleep, the quiet house at night: beautiful moments like this would end up being almost nothing because I wasn’t there.
Anxiety had become a norm.
I believed this was really just the way it was supposed to be.
The “Aha” moment came after a fight with Todd. We got to a point where we couldn’t speak. We were forced to sit and breathe, it’s all we could do. After we came down, we realized the storm had cleared a path, and that path eventually led to this question: why do we feel better right now?
Which eventually led to another question: what if there’s something we can create that slows our breath in our most anxious and stressful moments?
It’s so important to have something to hold onto. Trying to regulate breathing during fight-or-flight mode is difficult because of the adrenaline, cortisol, and extra oxygen. Having a tool to physically ground you is game changing. Like an anchor to a boat, the Shift grounds your mind when waves of anxiety throw you off course.
Yes you learn how to breathe the right way, but you need that reminder. To not only remind yourself to breathe, but to remind yourself that you’re going to be ok.
Nights are different for me now. Sleep is different. Mornings are different.
My daily narrative is so different. Breathing better has transformed every area of my life. I am grounded and present. I am connected to my moment. I greet the challenges each day brings because I am breathing better.
It sounds so simple, and it is. But simple doesn’t exactly mean easy.
I will promise you this: the commitment to breathe better is worth it.