The heart rate indicator on the elliptical exercise machine was showing that I was peaking high, meaning that my heart rate was beyond the ideal zone for my age and weight. This was going to be interesting, as I was only ¼ of the way through the selected routine. I adjusted my speed to lower my heart rate into the zone; I still, however, peaked high.
As I grasped the handles that had the sensors monitoring my heart rate, my eyes remained glued to the display showing my beats per minute. In actuality, my heartbeat always peaked high on this particular exercise equipment because it simply challenged my body. I wanted to, however, fall within the recommended heart rate guidelines in order to achieve the most effective workout.
Do you ever have situations that raise your heart rate, including when you simply think about the situation? The situations(s) challenge the very core of who you are, resulting in lost effectiveness – whether emotionally, socially, spiritually, mentally, and/or physically? Sometimes – in those situations – taking the time to simply breathe is the best solution.
A thought came to me to be mindful of my breathing, so I purposefully began to inhale deeply and then exhale slowly. As I consciously began to do these breathing exercises, an interesting thing began to occur – my heart rate noticeably began to drop. My pace was the same, the intensity was the same – the only thing that changed was my breathing.
Research supports the benefits of deep breathing to relieve stress and anxiety, the same way deep breathing helped lower my heart rate while exercising.[1] Taking a moment (or days if needed) to walk-away (mentally or physically) from situations(s) that cause the heart rate to soar is, at times, the best solution…literally taking a breather to calm down and refocus.
As I continued to exercise and felt like I wanted to quit, seemingly out of nowhere I began to get a second burst of energy – a second wind. Dictionary.com defines a second wind as the return of ease in breathing after exhaustion caused by continued physical exertion, as in running; the energy for a renewed effort to continue an undertaking.[2] Merriam-Webster defines such as renewed energy or endurance.[3] I believe my purposeful breathing caused more oxygen to reach and circulate through my bloodstream, causing a second burst of energy. With this in mind, I realized that there will be times when situations may result in feelings of wanting to quit or give-up. I was reminded to keep going – because the second wind will eventually occur if I continue to breathe deeply – whether literally or figuratively.
Last, this particular day when I was monitoring my heartrate, an individual came-up to me and we began to chat. Mind you, I rarely chat when completing aerobics, as I find it difficult to do so. However, as we were chatting, I glanced at my heartrate which had dropped considerably. Again, my pace and intensity were essentially the same – the main changes were my chatting with this person andmy breathing.
What did I glean from this? There are times when in challenging situations that I may want to keep things to myself – when I do not want to talk to anyone because I’d rather handle things on my own. However, there are times when having one, two, or a group of trusted individuals with whom to share concerns and receive constructive/critical feedback is warranted in order to relieve those intense and stressful moments.
Eventually the exercise routine came to an end and, although tired, my heart rate began to return to its normal beats per minute. Regardless of the challenging situations we encounter and how intense it may become, sometimes the only thing there is to do is just breathe, to get through it, and know to keep going because at some point – the second wind is going to come and eventually – the stressful situations will end – even if it’s more about how you and I handle the challenging situations rather than how the challenging situations handle us. Just breathe.
[1]Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2009. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/take-a-deep-breath
[2]Second Wind [Def. 1 & 2]. (n.d.). Dictionary.com, Retrieved November 12, 2018, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/second-wind
[3]Second Wind [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online, Retrieved November 12, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/second%20wind
Reflections from the Heart 
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