Infidelity is stressful and can leave us feeling out of control. As a result, I learned to become mindful of my breathing and focus on the things in life that I can control, like my breath and my body. Even when it feels like everything around me is crazy, I am still in charge of myself, which is my power! Therefore, I am responsible for reducing my infidelity stress.
Reducing our infidelity stress with breathing exercises is a fast and effective.
I choose to reduce that stress when I make space for my self-care. That means I am getting enough sleep, eating healthy and nutritious food, and staying clean. (Yup, it’s easy to let the little things slip when you work from home and are grieving from infidelity.) Of course, not every day is perfect, but I do my best to treat myself with respect and value.
Mindful Breathing Lowers Our Infidelity Stress
Mindful breathing is a research-proven way to lower our infidelity stress and anxiety. It's also complementary to other daily self-care activities such as exercise and journaling.
Breathing can often get overlooked because we always do it, even when we sleep. Yet, it can be one of the most effective ways to reduce and manage our stress. Deep breathing profoundly affects our state of mind and how we feel about ourselves.
Studies show that breathing exercises can improve our cognitive function, encourage more positive thought processes, and reduce our anxiety.
As my partner became increasingly disconnected from me due to their cheating, I unintentionally slipped into a state of freeze and held my breath. This mindless breathing pattern was my way of becoming invisible at that time. I felt small and insignificant.
When you're stressed, do you ever find yourself mouth-breathing, taking in more air than you need, or holding your breath? Breath holding was a dangerous pattern I fell into, and it wasn't keeping my body and brain healthy. As a result, my infidelity stress increased.
Long-term poor breathing patterns can keep our bodies in a cycle of stress. Unhealthy breathing habits affect our mental and physical health, making us more susceptible to getting sick. Yuck! When we stress breathe, more pressure gets added to us, which does not support our betrayal healing.
Stress Can Be Reduced In a Few Minutes A Day
While we shouldn’t stay in prolonged states of controlled breathing exercises, doing it for a few moments each day can provide us with numerous benefits. But mainly, it reduces our stress to heal from infidelity and discover our value and significance in life.
Breathing exercises are like natural tranquilizers for our nervous system. And unlike drugs, the more you use these techniques, the better the results.
Whenever I catch myself holding my breath or feeling stressed, I return to my breathing exercises. First, I get curious about what is happening to cause the stress. Then, I mindfully release it with one of the many breathing exercises like Breath Counting or Box Breathing found in the Self-care Course.
There is nothing woo-woo about breathing exercises. Scientifically, it's proven to support stress reduction. The real difficulty is that we know it is good for us, yet we don't prioritize doing it for ourselves. Or we start the practice and then give up before we realize the benefits. Like exercise, one or two trips to the gym won't make you fit; we must do it regularly to achieve therapeutic results. Therefore, if I want to reduce my infidelity stress, I must regularly practice relaxing breathing exercises.
We Can End Our Stress Anywhere, Anytime.
A great thing about breathing exercises is that you can do them anywhere, anytime. However, it has been proven that creating a habit, like a specific time or place, ensures we are more likely to do the exercises daily. Habits get formed by doing something for 21 days in a row. That’s three weeks to a beautiful breathing pattern to reduce our infidelity stress.
An essential aspect of The Self-care Course is incorporating breathing exercises into your waking and sleeping routines. I fall asleep each night to mindful breathing, a body scan, and positive affirmations. It makes me feel better knowing that I am doing this for myself. These audios are an easy and beautiful way to show ourselves the love and care we need.
Since I made my mindful breathing sleep routine a priority, I have improved my sleep. Other benefits include less back and hip pain, reduced headaches, improvement in my ability to release infidelity stress, and increased capacity to cope with the tough stuff. In truth, I have improved a lot of things in my life by improving my breathing, and I feel better doing it.
Since I go to bed each night, it’s not a complicated routine to keep to either. Mostly, I don’t even hear the end of the audio because I have fallen asleep! And if I wake up during the night, I put the audio on again, knowing I am doing well by breathing well.
Mindful Breathing Ends Nocturnal Stress
Learning to use mindful breathing has reduced my nocturnal stress over losing sleep. I can relax instead and trust that my body will take the rest it needs while I am being mindful, breathing, and relaxing. And if I don’t fall back asleep, then at least I was de-stressing and repairing myself, right?
Breathing Exercise
As a betrayed wife, it's understandable to feel overwhelmed and stressed, especially at night when you need to sleep. Your mind might race, and your heart might feel heavy with emotions that you can't shake off. But, did you know that one of the best ways to relax your mind and body is by practicing deep breathing?
When we are anxious or stressed, our breathing becomes shallow, which can make us feel more stressed. Deep breathing, also known as abdominal breathing, belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, is a simple yet effective technique that can help you reduce stress and anxiety.
To practice deep breathing, find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Take a slow, deep breath in, and then exhale slowly. As you inhale, focus on your abdomen expanding rather than your chest. Count to four while you inhale, and then count to four while you exhale. Repeat this process several times throughout the day for a few minutes as well as when you get into bed at night.
Deep breathing has many physical and mental health benefits. It lowers your heart rate, reduces your blood pressure, increases your energy levels, and decreases muscle tension and pain. It also reduces anxiety and stress, improves sleep, and helps you focus better.
So the next time you feel stressed, take a moment to practice deep breathing. It's a simple yet powerful exercise that can help you relax physically and mentally during times of stress.
I trust you will find a way to bring regular breathing exercises into your daily life. You are worth the effort it takes to reduce the infidelity stress and find peace. In just 21 days you can create a beautiful breathing habit for your mind and body. And if you want more support in reducing your infidelity stress, please reach out.
Much love,
