The Komuso Shift Necklace: An Organic Way to Calm Anxiety

I wrote a little about the Komuso Shift necklace in my last blog titled, Calm Your Anxiety With Deep Breathing, but I wanted to dedicate a little more time to it here because I think it’s a brilliant device that I honestly wish I had invented. Right now, any help we can get that encourages feelings of peace and calm are valuable, in my book.

The Komuso Shift is a tool to help with anxiety that is drug-free, holistic, beautiful and can also teach us to breath in a way that activates our parasympathetic nervous system, bringing us into a more relaxed state. It can help us to avoid falling into the panic cycle when times get tough. The Shift is inspired by the Komuso Monks of 17th century Japan. They used a bamboo 'shakuhatchi' flute as a healing modality and meditation tool.

What Happens During Anxiety & Panic

When we start to get anxious and that panic feeling kicks in, we tend to start gasping for air and hyperventilating. Even though it feels like we are lacking oxygen in this state, it’s actually a lack of carbon dioxide that leads to hyperventilation.

Because the sensation of hyperventilation feels nearly identical to a lack of oxygen, things get worse as we try inhale more. Since we don’t need more oxygen, our lungs and stomach don’t expand as much, increasing the feeling that we can’t get enough air. This cycle can continue and put us into fight or flight mode as we keep gasping for more air than we need without recovering our proper carbon dioxide levels.

Oxygen is readily available in the air for us to breath in, but it takes our bodies some time to create carbon dioxide. Rapid breathing causes us to breath out more CO2 than we have time to replenish. The way to fix this, is to slow down our exhales. 

Slowing down our exhales sounds simple, but if we are in a state of anxiety or panic, it can be difficult to do on our own.

This Is Where The Komuso Shift Comes In

It is designed to elongate your our exhales, reversing the fight or flight response and triggering your parasympathetic nervous system. This activates physical responses like relaxing the muscles and slowing the heart rate, bringing us into a calmer state. And it only take a couple of minutes to work!

How to Use the Komuso Shift

Inhale into your belly, hold for a moment, and then exhale into the Shift. The shift elongates your exhale, reversing the fight or flight response and triggering your parasympathetic nervous system to physiologically chill you out. Do this for about two minutes or until you start to feel better.

I also see the Shift as a symbol of peace and calm. Just having it on your body can be a reminder that everything will be ok, and if things do get tough, help is there when you need it. 

If you or a loved one are dealing with anxiety and stress and feel that the Shift would be a helpful tool, visit the Komuso website and use my discount code, HolisticTara for 15% off. 

Happy shifting, my friends.