As a new season approaches, so too do long hours of driving for many farmers. One problem that presents when we deal with prolonged periods of driving, whether in the field or on the highway, is fatigue.
The agriculture industries are rife with long hours at various tasks and fatigue is common, posing a dangerous risk to those who spend long days on the road or in the field. Outside of the obvious undertakings, such as ensuring healthy rest, prioritizing sleep and nutrition, there are a few things we can do during those long days to help our brains and bodies stay appropriately alert and awake.
A little-known body-based tool is to use various breath practices to shift neurological levels of alertness. Often I speak of this in the sense of helping someone’s system settle and relax, though it can just as well be used to increase our focus and alertness during times of monotony, fatigue or low energy levels.
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Our breathing is an automatic process that will continue without our awareness or direction; however, it’s unique, compared to some of our other biological processes, in that we can also consciously alter it if we choose. In this way, our breath becomes a direct access point to the rest of our biology. How we breathe, for better or worse, decides how the rest of our biology interprets and reacts to our environments.
The breath can help influence our energy levels, focus and our level of alertness. In this article I’ll offer a couple practices designed to increase focus and alertness, which are generally safe to use in the context of driving.
Keep a pace
One of my favourite introductory practices for anyone who wants to work with the breath is called “coherent breathing.” The term coherent simply implies that the inhale and the exhale are equal in length. As an example, if the inhale is four seconds long, we will aim for the exhale to be also four seconds long.
You can work with any length of breath for this practice, and I recommend beginning with a pace of breath that is relatively easy for you. Often after a moment working with the easiest length of breath, even if it’s short, a longer pace becomes easier and easier. My recommended pace for most people to work towards or within is four to six seconds inhale to four to six seconds exhale. You can do this pace of breath with your eyes open, continuing to focus on your environment. If you’re feeling fatigue, focusing on this breath for two to five minutes at a time often revitalizes your alertness. Alternatively, if you’re feeling anxious or overstimulated, this same practice can be a wonderful way to regulate your energy.
Active to passive
From coherent breath, a progression focused on increasing energy levels is breath with an active inhale and a passive exhale. The simplest form of this is a quick, full inhale through the nose followed by a passive (just letting the air fall out) exhale through the mouth. The exhale will often be a little shorter than the inhale, with little to no pause between the two phases of breath. The overall breath is quicker, with the inhale being fast and active, and the exhale being short but passive. You don’t need to do this style of breath for long to feel a boost in energy. I recommend no more than 30 seconds for most people, followed by another moment of coherent breathing.
A nice practice might look like a couple of minutes working with a coherent breath, five to 10 breaths of quick inhales to passive exhales, followed by another couple of minutes of coherent breath.
These practices are not meant to replace appropriate rest and recovery. Please ensure you take breaks and road naps if fatigue is interfering with your ability to focus appropriately. Likewise, if fatigue is an ongoing issue for you and you feel you are appropriately sleeping and eating nutrition-dense foods, please consult a health care provider to explore why your body is low on energy. Chronic fatigue can be an important signal that something else is up in your system, and this should not be ignored.
