Protecting Your Physical Energy - Breathe!

One way to rev up at the end of a long workday when you have plans for the night is to give your brain an infusion of oxygen. Here are a few breath exercises I've gleaned from various yoga classes over the years:

• Diaphramatic breathing: Sit up straight, breathe in as if your lungs are balloons, and breathe out as if you're deflating them. Let breath go all the way to the bottom of your lungs. You should feel and see your rib cage expanding.
• Alternate-nostril breathing: Close your right nostril by pinching it shut and breathe in through your left nostril. Breathe out through your left, then pinch it shut and inhale-exhale through your right nostril. Keep alternating.
  
• Hissing Snake: Take an enormous breath in, letting your chest and abdomen expand all the way. Hold for the count of 8. Exhale by hissing through your teeth slowly.

You can also pause every hour, on the hour and take 3-5 deep slow breaths. Like sipping water throughout the day, this will help you stay alert.