S2:E40 - Suicide Prevention Month - Day 21

I personally use belly breathing when I go into the ART and any medical procedures for two reasons. First, I have "White Coat Syndrome" and my blood pressure spikes when I go into any medical facility and I don't want the Doc to think I'm about to have a stroke due to my blood pressure skyrocketing. I know Maj Olmstead, MSgt Navarrette, or TSgt Johannesson can't tell you that this happens with me specifically, but I give them permission to confirm what I said. It gets rough sometimes and I try not to take more of their time. The second reason why I practice belly breathing is before I need to talk about something difficult. I've done a lot of belly breathing this month prior to recording and during the writing of the episodes as these are not easy topics for me either. There have been hours of audio deleted because I stop breathing from holding back the feelings and pain that some of these episodes have brought up. A few deep belly breaths and I'm ready to go a few more minutes, depending on the topic. Give it a few tries when you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed and focus on your pulse, you'll be able to feel it better and you should see a drastic drop in beats per minute.