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When I sense that people are agitated and anxious, I remind them to breathe and to unclench their jaws. Some look at me as if I am stupid for even suggesting it.

We all know how to breathe; we are doing it all the time, but when we are in distress, our breathing gets shallow, and our body suggests we need more air to fill our lungs. We feel like suffocating during panic attacks or anxiety attacks. At worst, it ends with hyperventilation and the fear of dying. Remembering to breathe in through the nose and exhale through the mouth, helps to calm down. It gives us something to focus on when everything else is overwhelming.

When we are stressed, angry, nervous… we tend to put our teeth together, grinding our molars – clenching our jaw. Maybe it is to prevent us from saying something stupid, or from screaming. But, our entire body gets rigid like that. Our neck gets tense and our back too. Once again, breathing right becomes problematic because we prevent it physically. And it’s not good for our teeth. Loosening the jaw and the entire face muscles looses tension in our body too. And again, it helps to relax because blood flows easier through the bodies and oxygen levels get better again.

Observe those things in yourself, maybe it helps…