It was the best of times…
Picture by Freepik
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”[1]
Some reasonable Pommie (I’m a Kiwi, don’t judge) writer beat me to this line to describe the times in which we live. Not sure if I have to credit him but he wrote quite a bit of reasonable literature.
Whether you be a professional footballer at the European Championships, a family trying to cope with the cost of living crisis, a business leader coping with the ”hype” around AI or just “joe public” having a challenging day we all need to be able to cope with stressful (I prefer challenging) situations. Being present and in the moment is a classic way to deal with challenges (#Stoics) and one of the easiest tools we all have to measure this is breathing rate.
Measured, coherent or belly breathing are all methods to slow and control your breathing rate. When you control your breathing you can influence your parasympathetic nervous system. Your autonomic nervous system is actually able to be controlled in a simple way.
This means anyone can use a basic human skill to calm the “beast” within. A footballer can calm his heartrate via breathing before the penalty shootout, the business leader can calm the noise that invades every waking second of their day and Mum or Dad can make decisions about what is more important for their stretched finances with a suitably calm demeanour.
Such a system exists at Footfalls and Heartbeats. It is textile based, able to be integrated into baselayer clothing if necessary, machine washable and in almost all cases completely invisible. A simple tool, combined with a powerful metric can in the modern parlance provide actionable data for a positive outcome. Footfalls tells you when your breathing rate increases (due to challenges) and then each and every one of you can change the outcome.
That is technology for “the best of times…”
#Footfalls #Respiration #Relaxation #Emotional
[1] “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
