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The Desperate Search for “Breathing Space” When Your Brain Refuses to Give You Any
And why you should really try to get some anyway
I find it fascinating that the U.K. version of “breathing room” — which in the U.S. means room and time to think things over — is “breathing space.” According to the impressively titled Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the term refers to “a period of rest in order to increase strength or give you more time to think about what to do next.” In the U.S., where many seem less likely to rest in order to think things through than to race around until something works out, more would benefit, I think, from searching not only for a little room to breathe but for space in the form of time and freedom from distractions to actually breathe deeply and think clearly.
Not that I always do this. While I know meditation provides terrific health benefits due to the deep breathing and clear thinking it can lead to, I’ve yet to devote the needed time — and breathing space — to try it. Luckily other things like yoga and walking — which in my slightly manic mind contribute to body strength and weight loss in addition to deep breathing and clear thinking and therefore qualify as multitasking — also help. And I’ve always found mundane tasks like weeding and cleaning help, too, but that’s probably because I’m…
