I have decided to dedicate a post on Thursday to therapy, and offer you the many tips I have learned on the couch. They will be a good reminder for me, as well, of something small I can concentrate on. Many of them are published in my book, “The Pocket Therapist: An Emotional Survival Kit.”
The first one, ironically, helped me enormously last week during a very intense interview for a full time consulting job.
Count to Four
Breathing is the foundation of sanity because it is the way we provide our brain and every other vital organ in our body with the oxygen needed to survive. Breathing also eliminates toxins from our systems.
There are hundreds of techniques for deep breathing, but one of the simplest and most effectives ones that I learned in the psych ward is the “Four Step” method:

• Breathe in slowly to a count of four.?
• Hold the breath for a count of four.?
• Exhale slowly through pursed lips to a count of four.?
• Rest for a count of four (without taking any breaths).?
• Take two normal breaths.?
• Start over again with number one.
• If you get real ambitious, try this: Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth. Breathe in slowly through your nose as you count to five. Hold your breath as you count to seven. Then exhale slowly as you count to eight. Put your hands on your abdomen so that you can feel it rise as you inhale.

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