March's Mental Fitness Workouts

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What to Expect:

• March’s mental fitness workouts

For the month of March, here are the workouts to try to optimize your mind. We will build on the foundation we set last month with values, mindfulness, and a balanced critique.

Workout 1: Breathwork

Now that you’ve (hopefully) tried to meditate regularly, we can mix up our practice and introduce breathwork. Breathwork is essentially controlled, patterned breathing. The data suggests breathwork gives us better control over our nervous system and enhances our regulation abilities. It’s a great adjunct to mindfulness, which can enhance our presence, focus, and ability to take perspective. With these two practices, we have the start of a pretty robust repertoire for keeping ourselves calm, cool, and collected.

Recommended exercises:

• 4-7-8 breathing. This means breathing in for a count of 4, holding for a count of 7, and breathing out for a count of 8. When our exhale is longer than our inhale, it sends a signal to our minds to be calm. This pattern is great for helping yourself fall asleep.

• 4x4 box breathing. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, and hold for 4. This pattern can help us steady ourselves and gain deeper control over our breath.

• 4-6 breathing. Breathe in for 4, and out for 6. Again, the long exhale should help us relax.

Aim to try all three of these exercises at least 3 times each in March, and see which you like best.

Workout 2: Expressive Journaling

Each week, set aside one 15-minute block with an open document or notepad. For that time, just write what's on your mind. Don't pay attention to spelling or punctuation, and you can write about anything you'd like. The main focus is just on expressing yourself fully and getting what you are thinking about regularly onto paper.

If it's useful for you, you can return to what you've written and organize it into themes or core concepts you don't want to forget later - but that isn't necessary.

That's it for March - just two practices that should take up more than half your week each week. By the end of March, you should have greater insight into what's regularly on your mind ("keeping you up," as it might be) and how to better regulate your nervous system.