Building Resilience With Breath

Since 2016 I work in various sales roles. From Inside Sales in Spain, to Field Sales in Germany and Switzerland.

Sales is a job that comes with many Up’s and Down’s – but as I’ve grown into the profession, it was (somewhat) easy for me to cope with the constant pressure and expectations of carrying a quota and achieving numbers.

Recently I’ve however started a new job as Chief of Staff. It was like tapping into a new reality. I didn’t know what the job really entails – what success looks like and what the role expectations are.

The wave of new tasks (beyond sales), with new people (including many Executives) and in a completely new pace (as its a global role) was a bit of a shock to me.

When I feel stress, I usually try to de-compress with sports, primarily running. Running helps me not only to sort my thoughts, but also to release tension from the body and to finally move, after long days in the office/at the desk.

In the past years, I’ve tried to also build resilience with other techniques, such as yoga and meditation. Thanks to yoga and meditation, I’ve been able to calm my mind by focusing on my breath and by doing so reacting more calmly to tasks in my job (to counter the fight & flight instinct).

When I think about all of those activities and techniques, there is one common denominator.

The common denominator of running, yoga & meditation: the breath

Wim Hof Method

The first time I heard about the impact of the breath on a person’s health, was about a year ago, during a podcast from The Diary Of A CEO with Wim. During this podast, Wim highlighted the 3 pillars of his method:

1. Exposure to the cold: by exposing your body to the cold, breath can be used to cope with the extreme temperatures.
2. The breath: as a tool for control.
3. Commitment (mindset) to align mind and body.

Finally Breathing

For me personally, I wanted to bring the barrier of entrance as low as possible and start with one of those pillars to begin with.

I am lucky to know a former colleague of mine, who quit his corporate job and started to give classes on breath (Bhava Breath).

In the next weeks to come, I’ll participate in a 1:1 breath coaching, and can’t wait to update this blog on the experiences I make!