Breathing Techniques for Stress
#26/0101. Michael Lowman writes about working under pressure in yachting environments and the practical application of breathwork and awareness in day-to-day operations. You can find him www.yoga-shack.com
Breathing Techniques for Stress: Staying Calm Under Pressure on Deck
Stand By — The Moment Before It Kicks Off
You’ve heard it before:
“Stand by the anchor.”
“Stand by to stand by.”
Glasses on, cutting through the glare, I stared out at my office. For all the challenges, it had its perks.
I was on deck as the engineer came up, huffing, already irritated he’d been pulled off what he saw as more important work than hauling anchor.
We stood waiting for the command.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Time, always on the boss’s terms.
You Can Feel It Before Anything Happens
I glanced over at him. You could feel it building.
Tight shoulders.
Short breath.
That low-level frustration that can flip quickly if something goes wrong.
Anyone who’s worked on deck knows this feeling. The job hasn’t even started yet, but the pressure is already there.
What’s Actually Happening in Your Body
In those moments, your body is already switching gears.
- Breathing gets shorter and higher in the chest
- Heart rate increases
- You move closer to a fight-or-flight state
It’s automatic. No one teaches you this, but it drives how you react.
And on a yacht, reactions matter.
A Small Adjustment That Changes Everything
I didn’t say much. Just a small gesture:
Slow it down.
Breathe into the belly.
It’s simple, but it works:
- Inhale through the nose
- Let the breath drop into your stomach
- Slow the exhale
Within a minute or two, things settle.
Not because the situation changed, but because your state did.
Why This Matters on Deck
Pressure isn’t going anywhere in this industry.
Tight turnarounds.
Demanding owners.
Long hours.
High expectations.
You can’t remove that.
But you can create a bit of space between what happensand how you respond.
And that space is often the difference between:
- staying composed
- or escalating a situation that doesn’t need it
The Tough Crowd
If I’m honest, he was the last person I expected to take anything from it.
Proper tough crowd.
Skeptical.
Not interested in anything that sounded like “breathing techniques” or anything remotely close to yoga.
Fair enough.
Most people in this industry aren’t looking for that.
The Quiet Win
At the end of the season, he came up to me and said:
“Thank you… that breathing thing you showed me, it helped me a lot.”
No big moment. No speech.
Just that.
And that was enough.
Because it wasn’t about convincing him.
It was about giving him something he could use, when he needed it.
Final Thought
You don’t need to buy into anything.
But if you can catch yourself in those moments, when your breath shortens, when tension rises, and slow it down, even slightly…
You give yourself a chance.
And at SEA, that can make all the difference.