We live in an extremely competitive era. Every day brings its own challenges and trails. A study indicates that an average professional has approximately 50 projects at his disposal and around 200 meetings a year, apart from the constant pressure of deadlines and targets at work. From long working hours to job uncertainty, workplace stress can affect your productivity more than any other thing. Every year, it ends up killing more than 1,20,000 people across the globe.

However, there exists a life hack that can help you deal with workplace stress better than anything else. It is like a medicine that will keep you relaxed, energize you, strengthen your immune system and keep you young, all at once. And the best part is, it comes without any cost. So whenever stress overwhelms you, all you have to do is- Breathe! I know how it is to handle the hustle being the founder of “Write Right’ and tackling with the daily deals.

Breathing is the one stop solution to all your worries, it fixes your problem, reduces anxiety and helps you better analyse the situation or a decision that you need to make, giving you an immediate sense of relief. We breathe throughout our lives, yet it doesn’t seem as miraculous as I present it to be. Why? It’s probably because you are not breathing correctly. Some people breathe too fast, while some may breathe so slowly that you can’t even figure it out. The key lies in finding a balance.

Our brain has trained itself to breathe in a particular pattern throughout our lives. Hence, learning again to breathe can be a difficult process, yet research indicates it’s as important to breathe it right than to breathe at all. Poor breathing puts you at a risk of a slew of diseases detrimental to your productivity, whether at job or at home. It may lead to cognitive problems, make concentrating difficult, cause loss of memory and severely impactyour capacity to work. What’s more, it may even lead to depression, low energy levels, hypertension and insomnia.

Below is a quick step by step guide to improve your breathing skills-

1. Stretch and Warm up

Just like a briefcase loaded with stuff, your job is to make sure that you utilize each and every part of your lung, which in turn will provide you with fuller lung capacity and higher stocking of breath.Stretching yourself and doing basic exercises can help your lungs open up. Common techniques like taking a walk, performing intercostal stretches and warming yourself up can go a long way to deal with workplace stress.

2. Workout

work. Performing exhale pulsations is a great way to reduce stress. Exhale Pulsations are quick, sharp exhales that streth the muscles associated with exhalation. The targeted muscles respond quickly to this exercise, giving you a satisfying experience.

3. Posture

We don’t often realize this, but the way we sit in front of our desktops goes a long way to indicate the kind of stress we are in. As per Rene Cailliet, M.D., who is author of a series of books on musculoskeletal medicine and former Director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Southern California, poor posture may affect your ability to breathe properly by approximately 30%! The correct posture is to expand your chest out, look straight, flatten your shoulders and tilt you pelvic just enough to allow you to slide your hand comfortably through the space between you butts and shoulders, while seating.

4. Deep breathing

Whenever you feel overwhelmed by the quantum of work around you, take three deep breaths. It is an age old remedy passed since generations, yet one of the most effective in dealing with excess stress at workplace. It eases your brain, which eats up 20% of the oxygen you intake and gives you a surreal feeling.

Thus, breathing correctly addresses the root of all your health issues, most of which originate from high exposure to stress. So if you really want to secure the next promotion in your hierarchical setup, keep breathing!