The Secret to Better Decisions is in Your Nose
You’re just 10 noisy, fun breaths away from clearer thinking 👃
There are only 7 weeks left in the year, and if my own email can serve as any sort of barometer, I’m guessing your inbox might be starting to fill up with “plan for an amazing 2025” messages.
While I love a good planning session (give me all the fresh notebooks and colored pens! 😍), I've noticed something interesting over my years of working with busy entrepreneurs and business owners (and being one myself).
The best plans don't come from pushing harder or thinking faster. They come from a clear, calm mind that can actually hear what your intuition is trying to tell you.
Which is actually part of why I became a breathwork coach.
When you're constantly in execution mode (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, EOY goals, oh my!), it's really hard to shift into that clear, strategic headspace. Your brain is buzzing with all the day-to-day details of managing your life, and before you know it… maybe without even realizing it… you're planning your future from a place of stress, overwhelm, or both.
Not exactly the best state for making decisions about where you want your business and life to go.
The good news is that you’ve got a secret weapon for better planning and decision-making – and it’s available to you all the time.
Yes, it’s your breath… and no, I'm not just talking about taking a few deep ones (though that's never a bad idea!).
This breathing technique will help you shift from "doing mode" to "thinking mode." It's called ujjayi breathing, also known as the slightly-easier-to-remember-and-pronounce Ocean Breath.
Have you ever used a blowdryer to blast away the condensation on a foggy mirror?
That’s what ujjayi breathing does to your mental fog.
So how does one engage in something called Ocean Breath, which seems like it should be an oxymoron to us humans who don’t have gills?
Ocean (Ujjayi) Breath
Start by making sure your mouth is shut, breathing normally through your nose.
Try to constrict the back of your throat. Think about how your throat feels when you whisper or, again, when you fog up that mirror. That’s what you’re trying to mimic.
With your mouth shut, make a noise in the back of your throat as you breathe in and out through your nose. It should be a gentle sound, like the ocean 🌊
Keep your inhales and exhales smooth and equal in length.
Optional: use a fingertip to press one ear shut if you want to intensify the sound.
Ocean breath might feel a little weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, it can be oddly fun. And in a stormy sea of thoughts, the gentle sound of this breath gives your mind an anchor to focus on.
Plus, that slight resistance in your throat naturally slows down your breathing, helping you shift out of "rush mode" and into a clearer headspace.
Do a set of 10 long, slow ocean breaths and see how you feel after.
You might feel a little warm, a little energized. That’s normal.
A few breaths in, you’ll probably notice your mind becoming quieter and more focused. That mental chatter about your to-do list? It'll start to fade into the background, making room for bigger picture thinking.
That's what happens when you give your brain the oxygen it needs to function at its best. You stop second-guessing yourself and start trusting your intuition more.
Now I mentioned this in the context of planning for next year… but another beautiful thing about this technique is that you can use it anytime you need to make important decisions.
Got a proposal to review? Ocean Breath.
Considering what to include in your new offer? Ocean Breath.
Trying to decide if you should attend that conference? You guessed it! 🙌
The quality of our decisions is directly related to the state we're in when we make them. By using breathwork to get into a clearer headspace first, you're setting yourself up to make choices that align with your true goals and values, not just your stress response.
Now doesn’t THAT sound like the ideal way to plan for next year… and pretty much everything else from now on?
Last Gasp
Want to learn more techniques like this? Comment and let me know what kinds of challenges you're facing right now. I love sharing breathwork practices tailored to different situations!